


Spellbreaker

by Severa



Series: Enchantment [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Gen, Humor, M/M, Slash, Slow Build, Spellbound!Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-20 15:47:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3655959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severa/pseuds/Severa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the battles are done and the dust settles, someone's always left behind to pick up the pieces. </p><p>With the year Tony has had, he's really not surprised to find out that it's him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The little mercy was in the fact that when Tony came stumbling out of the Bifrost, his briefcase came barreling out behind him.

“You’ve made interesting enemies for yourself.” Heimdall announced. “Welcome to Asgard.”

It took Tony a minute to gather himself, dazed in the wake of interstellar travel. He dusted off his suit as he regained his footing and stared straight at the gatekeeper of Asgard. After a terribly long moment of silence, he barked a dry laugh and righted his hair. No amount of scalding hot showers were going to wash away any of his new memories.

“Don’t know what it is. Your girls just have it out for me, I guess.” He forced himself to stop dusting his jacket, decided it was better to tie his tie instead. “What’s your name again, big guy? Am I dead?”

“Heimdall.” He gave the slightest bow of his head. “And no. You are not so lucky.”

“Can I call you Scotty?” he asked, pushing the knot of his tie up.

“...No.”

Tony suffered through the failed joke. It was going to be a long day.

“Well, then why are you beaming me up?”

The AllSeer’s gaze turned out towards the universe, his eyes shining like coins as he surveyed the stars and galaxies.

“You were in danger, and it is the duty of this throne to see you safe.”

Well, that made Hela’s declaration make more sense.

“I’m a big boy, now. I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself--”

“But perhaps fate led you here as well, Spellbreaker.”

“Spellbreaker?” Tony tried the name out. It sounded a little Game of Thrones, or maybe just suitably Norse. “Well, are you going to send me back, or does Spellbreaker get a free room and a hot shower at the palace?”

The AllSeer chuckled.

“Until she is gone, you must remain in Asgard's hospitality.”

“Oh, wonderful. Held against my will. Again.”

“But in better quarters, I assure you.” Heimdall’s tone grew a little more serious after that, his golden eyes drifting back to Tony. “A war was wrought in your absence. The city still grieves. Thor recovers from his trials.”

It was a warning and a surprise to Tony.

“A war?”

He nodded, grave. The smaller man pressed forward.

“What do you mean? What happened? Is that what London was about? Where’s--”

“Time will tell you.”

Tony shut his mouth, frown lines deepening as he stared at Heimdall.

“Fortune cookies and secret keepers, all of you.” he cursed, “How do you get anything done?”

“Enjoy your time in Asgard, Spellbreaker.”

Tony gave a sarcastic two-finger salute in response, taking the hint that the conversation was over. Eternally frustrated by Asgard’s lack of transparency, he could only shake his head as he left, shoving his hands in his pockets with a huff. It looked like he would just have to figure it out on his own again. Brilliant.

Walking away from the Bifrost and down the rainbow bridge, the stars shone down on a mortal who was about to walk among Gods. Hela’s parting words nagged him in the back of his skull.

_Find him._

He didn’t know who Hela really was and he didn’t know where she came from, but he was damn well going to find out.

* * *

Tony quickly realized that traversing an alien planet alone wasn’t his most brilliant idea. It was almost impressive how quickly he got lost, despite the fact that the golden palace loomed over the entire city. One might think a genius would be able to find his way to a huge landmark - especially when said genius was from New York City - but Tony was like a brain-damaged rat in a maze. All of the distractions aside - _Is that a flying boat?_ - it didn’t help that everyone stared at him like the circus had rolled in. Apparently Armani didn’t suit Asgardian fashion. He felt like Thor in a supermarket, clutching his briefcase like it was Mjolnir itself.

Tony skirted around a gaggle of kids that started to get too close, concern drawing his brow together. No amount of technological distractions could make him ignore the blood-stained cobblestone. Buildings were toppled in the streets, statues were rubble, and homes had been demolished. Sure, the city was rebuilding, but whatever war had ripped through here had been leagues worse than the destruction in London.

Why hadn’t Thor asked for help?

The aforementioned group of children eventually gave him directions to the palace after an impressive amount of attitude was exchanged, leaving Tony down one defunct ear piece but on the right track. He was climbing the gilded steps of the palace as the sun set, which made the building’s glare nearly blinding. He almost didn’t see who waited for him at the top of the staircase, but a flash of red managed to make its way through a sea of gold.

“Man of Iron.” Thor double-timed it down the steps, his cape billowing out behind him. “I apologize. When word arrived of your coming you had already left the Bifrost. I searched, but--”

“It’s fine, big guy. I found my way.” He clapped Thor on the bicep. “Asgard looks nice when you’re not being hauled off to prison.”

Thor chuckled, shaking his head. But the laugh didn’t fool Tony.  He could see the circles under Thor's eyes and the way his shoulders slumped with burden. This was no shining Prince of Asgard. This was a tired warrior after a battle, forcing himself to stand tall.

“We have much to talk about.”

“Over dinner.” Tony suggested, stopping at the top of the stairs to catch his breath. “I’m starving and you’re always boasting about your goddamn mead. Time to put your money where your mouth is.”

Thor smiled. “I’ve an audience with my Father. We can feast afterwards - you have my word.”

“An audience? What’s that about?”

“Nothing of concern, friend. I apologize for my rudeness, but I must--”

“Wait.” Tony stopped him mid-turn, a little anxious. But he couldn’t not ask. “You haven’t heard from him? At all?”

Thor paused, then cast his gaze aside with a sigh.

“We have much to talk about,” he repeated, dismissing the conversation for another time. “Until then.”

Not much more was said before Thor hurried off, leaving Tony standing in the entryway. Anxiety festered and he shook his head again, rolling his weight back on his heels as he considered his situation.

As he saw it, he had two options: find his bedroom and hope to God this was all a bad dream that JARVIS would wake him up from, or go play detective and find out what was wrong.

_Find him._

Thankfully he didn’t have to be a superspy to track Thor through the palace. What with his voice echoing down the halls, even DUM-E probably could have done it.

“He is your son!”

Tony found the tall doors to the throne room half open and he peeked in just in time to see Odin slam the butt of his scepter down on the dais. The sound alone gave him enough of a shock that he pulled back out of sight.

“You think I do not know this?” the King demanded.

“You let him rot in his cell. You send no healers--”

“--He will see no healers--”

“--and bar me from his side. He writhes as if wolves tear him asunder. He screams, Father.”

“He suffers as he has caused others to suffer.”

“Do his plights mean nothing to you? Has he not redeemed himself?”

“Whatever he has done, it has been for himself.”

“He returned to defend his home. Our home. He saved me, twice over.”

“And in the same breath, he murdered your Mother.”

Ice cascaded down Tony’s neck, spreading and rolling through his veins. Frigga was dead?

“Kurse killed my Mother.” Thor protested, his voice like stone.

“But why did Malekith come?” Odin demanded. Tony could hear his footsteps pace. “Because Loki stole the Aether--”

“To protect Midgard.”

“--to use to his own ends, Thor. You are blinded by your love for him.”

“You expect me to stand idly by while--?”

“Do you think that I enjoy this? My sons, against me? One with a foot in Hela’s hall and another fit to rebel?” A raven cawed within the court. “This has become a matter of fate. I cannot force the curse from his veins.”

 _All who come to my hall are welcome, but not those who come early,_ Hela had said. _Loki is in the balance between his realm and mine--All it would take is a touch--I am death._

_Find him._

Possessed with a panic as his mind pieced together the puzzle, Tony abandoned the court. His footsteps echoed as he retraced the path that had been burned into his memory. The dungeon to the throne room, the throne room to the dungeon; he’d walked these halls in chains in what he thought were his final moments, and he’d remember it until the end of days.

Loki was in a dungeon cell, dying.

_Find him._

Turning down grand hallways and taking two steps at a time down every staircase, Tony’s palms turned clammy around the briefcase handle. The giant stone doors of the dungeons were upon him in no time; he barreled through surprised guards to get to the final staircase down. They followed and yelled after him, but he didn’t care. He had to see, he just had to know--

Before he even pushed open those great doors, he could hear Loki screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

The grand doors gave way, revealing the endless halls of dark stone and white cells. Tony didn’t need to search. This dungeon was seared into his mind, from every stone on the floor to each column that lined the hall. He knew where his own cell had been. And he knew exactly where Loki’s was.

His quick mind only managed to reward him with a sight of horror: Loki, lying on a floor pooled with his own blood, writhing within the confines of his prison cell. His veins were webbed black across paper-thin skin, his armor dented and leather torn. His complexion was as grey as stone. Tremors wracked his body as he tossed in futile attempts to exorcise his demons. What sounds he could make were strangled with agony. He was fighting hard, but every flicker of green magic that tried to come forth was extinguished like a flame in the wind.

Loki was dying.

Halfway down those endless steps to the dungeon floor, a guard grabbed Tony by the shoulder and wrenched him abruptly from his path. He was pulled back in some sorry attempt at restraint.

“Let me go!”

“My Lord, you are not permitted-”

He wrenched away, stumbling down the remainder of the steps.

“Let me in!” Tony demanded, and then Loki’s eyes found him.

What was once emerald green was red on black, his irises shifting colors like the embers of fire. The guard caught him again, and Tony felt fear creep into his heart.

“Can’t you see? He needs-”

“My Lord, you must leave. By the King’s orders.”

Tony tore himself away again, escaping the guard for long enough that he managed to get himself up against the golden barrier of the cell. Loki’s eyes never left him, even as a pulse of red light seared its way up his black veins. A sound left his throat, something Tony couldn’t understand.

“What the hell happened to you, Horns?”

The guard pulled him away from the cell and Tony reacted, sliding out of his hands and ducking away from his grip. He rolled his way out of arm’s reach, the briefcase clattering to the ground before he stood up. Natasha would have been proud. Clint probably would have called him a spry old man.

“Back off, golden boy.”

“My Lord-”

“Shove the titles up your ass and go get someone who cares.” He dusted off his suit. “Put a hand on me again and see what happens.”

The guard gawked, unsure if he should step over this line. Who knew what danger was beyond? Midgard bred souls that seemed to crave risk and destruction -- perhaps it was best to let those familiar with them fight this battle, lest this quarrel take a disastrous turn.

“Open that door.” Tony demanded.

“I can’t do that.”

“Then I can’t leave. Got a problem with it? Go cry to Odin.”

That was the end of it, as far as Tony was concerned. The guard seemed to agree, as he promptly tucked tail and ran off to report to higher ups. It would only buy him a little bit of time.

Once the guard was long gone, Tony kicked open the latch of his briefcase. It popped open with a groan, revealing the infinity gauntlet within. The two stones embedded in its knuckles glinted off the golden-white light of the dungeon, seemingly harmless. As he bent down to take it from its casing, Tony turned to see Loki’s ember eyes still on him, questioning through the pain.

“Hang in there.”

Tony’s fingers wiggled into the glove, and he felt the old magic hum up his arm. He glanced to the cell across the way - his cell - where he found his writing still on the walls. Scratches of abandoned theories and old schematics interrupted the endless white. _Like water’s surface tension_ , he remembered theorizing, _if you apply the right amount of force the field might give way._ He had just never had the power to make it happen - the force to fill the variable.

But now he did.

Loki’s eyes widened when he saw the Infinity Gauntlet against the cell barrier, pressing hard to try to stretch the field to its limit. Human force wouldn’t be enough, he thought, but it seemed Tony was as mad as he was. This clarity was fleeting, however; Loki closed his eyes and hunched his shoulders under a wave of pain, desperately trying to maintain his tremors. This sight was enough to spark Tony’s determination and he willed the barrier to break.

With a pulse of blue magic it was done.

Tony stumbled forward when it gave way, falling on his knees into a black pool of blood. Closer now, he could see the mess for what it really was: a wound in the gut, straight through the stomach, broken bones hiding behind torn muscles and organs. A nasty sort of blade had caused this, and sure, a lesser man would be dead from it. But Tony didn’t believe it could take Loki down.

“C’mon, man…” he turned Loki’s head, pushing back tendrils of slick hair. “What happened to you?”

Loki’s mouth moved in soundless words, unheard curses. He was weak, and growing weaker by the moment. But his hand darted out to Tony’s neck, palm splayed flat across the skin as his fingers dug into his nape.

 _“Death.”_ Loki’s voice echoed in his mind, ragged and raw. _“The Aether brings only death.”_

“He returned once rumors of war reached him.” Thor’s voice came from the staircase, descending with him in the shadows. His tone was calm, deceptively so, but his eyes were not without concern. Tony didn’t bother to look up at him. “When he first acquired the Aether, he woke its Keeper - Malekith, of the Svartalfar. That creature and what remained of his army came seeking their lost boon, thinking Loki here. Asgard was unprepared.”

Loki’s hand gripped tighter, and Tony’s reached up to hold it at his wrist.

“Queen Frigga…” Thor paused and Tony heard familiar ghosts in his tone. “...Our mother was stubborn, like us.” There was a false laugh, a forced smile, and Thor approached the edge of Loki’s cell. His eyes were solemn. “She was felled when our enemies could not persuade her to reveal Loki’s whereabouts. He arrived shortly thereafter, once Malekith had left to scour the realms for him. Father could not see beyond his grief and handed down a sentence for eternity.”

Thor waved his hand and the guards that had followed him retreated. The heavy doors of the dungeon swung closed, echoing through the empty halls.

“The Aether had run Loki ragged. It threatened to consume his mind, but he knew himself. He knew anger and sorrow, and revenge was his fuel. We came together to avenge her. In the end... he took a blade that would have run me through. The Aether had been drawn out from him in our attempt to destroy it, but the damage had been done. It left him with only weak magic, leaving him vulnerable to the blood on that blade.”

Tony’s throat was dry. There was a long moment of silence before he could gather his thoughts.

“Blood?”

“From an accursed - a svartalfar transformed by the Aether.” he explained. “Their blood is turned toxic. There was some on the blade - this is what tries to destroy Loki now. His magic fights, but his strength…” Tony started unbuckling the dirt-dusted leather armor, peeling its layers away. Thor watched him. “...He may not survive this. Even if he allowed the healers near, this is magic beyond them.”

“Stubborn asshole.” Tony muttered. “Makin’ me save your sorry ass.”

Fighting around Loki’s waves of pain and seizing muscles, Tony eventually stripped off the leather armor and got him down to fabrics. He peeled up his shirt to see the wound properly.

Thor stepped into the cell, kneeling at Loki’s opposite side.

“Tell me how to help.”

Tony sighed, hands hovering over the wound. It was black and festering, veins of red stretching out over the skin. There were jagged crystals of ruby jutting out from the black, but Tony’s eyes were drawn to another oddity. Some of the grey skin had given way to shattered tears of blue and raised lines of skin.

“You said his magic is fighting it.” Tony thought aloud. “If he was at full power, would it be enough to heal him?”

“One could hope.”

“Then go watch the door for me.”

Thor glanced to the gauntlet on his hand and Tony huffed in frustration. Yes, it was a long shot, but it was the best chance they had.

“We’ve got to try something.” he insisted. “Got any better ideas?”

When Loki’s eyes flashed with pain and he fell into another fit of writhing - less violent now, like he was making an effort to stay still - Thor resolved himself and stood.

“Make haste.”

With the wave of a red mantle, Thor made his way to the entrance. He deposited Mjolnir at the crevice between the two doors and sat at its side, thinking this the best method to buy them some time. There were few that could hope to push his hammer out of their path.

Tony looked down to Loki and then to the gauntlet, glancing back to the sorcerer. Loki’s hand was still on his neck, fingers splayed across the base of his skull. His eyes were closed and his grip was tight, though dampened with sweat.

Tony’s bare hand covered his.

“You saved my life. ‘Bout time I paid you back.”

He put his his gloved hand against the side of Loki’s face, fingers on his temple. Pain wracked him again, but Tony managed to keep him still.

“Hold on.”

Loki gathered just enough awareness to realize what was pressed against his temple, his eyes straining until he saw the glint of gold. They snapped up just a moment too late, but Tony saw them scream _stop, wait-_

The Mind Stone dug deep, tendrils of magic rooting themselves in the caverns of Loki’s mind. His ember-like eyes were drowned in yellow and his nails dug deep into the back of Tony’s neck, but Stark wasn’t about to pull back. The stone’s influence wrapped itself around the last flickering flame of magic within the sorcerer, and Tony held onto it like a lifeline. But he was seeing more than that, learning far more than he ever should; Loki’s mind was open before him, leaking across this link into his own consciousness.

A quiet golden hall flashed in his mind’s eye, where firelight matched the solemn weight of a tragedy in the room. " _I love Thor more dearly than any of you,"_ Loki said, and then Tony tumbled out of that memory into another. It was a blue-white world, known for freezing temperatures. Loki wore leathers while his friends had layered themselves in furs. Fandral called him cold blooded. Volstagg claimed he was akin to the frost giants in soul if not in size. They were mere jests until a giant gripped Loki's arm and shocked the white straight out of blue skin; Tony felt Loki's horror grip his throat, fear and confusion and concern bursting out all at once in a magnificent display of violence that felled the beast. His world flashed as Thor's lighting struck and the memory changed; Loki stood older now, in a cell where he stared at Tony across the hall. _"A natural death is possible. Not all perish by way of battles and blood… But yes, you are right. I will not let them."_ True words, defiant words, ones that proved him a survivor in all things. His mind wondered on Tony, and then the mechanic began to reel as Loki did in his memories. Thrown to and fro between past and present, he felt he was drowning in every emotion that brushed his path. " _Is it madness? Is it?... I only ever wanted to be your equal."_ Thor stood before Loki on a cliff side and then Tony saw himself crash into that behemoth of a man. He felt Loki’s laugh. _"I’m listening."_  Then there was pain and the light of the sun. Loki stared up at Stark, who stood with the Avengers at his side - _"If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have that drink now."_  - and then they stood in the rubble of the second battle of New York. Loki and Tony, the rest of the world forgotten, as the sorcerer twisted inside red pain and the sting of victory. _"Until next we meet, Stark."_

Tony was drowning in the memories. Every thought shared was an endless maze, reaching down into the unfathomable depths of a mind Tony couldn’t begin to understand. But he had to focus, he had to breathe; he couldn’t let himself get lost in what was quickly becoming a black void of everything and nothing- oceans and stars, endless universes and galaxies-

With a gasp of breath, Tony broke through the surface of all that chaos. He found focus on the banks of his own consciousness and returned to his own mind, holding tight to the green flame of magic and life still caught by his will. Loki needed power - craved it like a drowning man wanting for air - and Tony had it all at his fingertips. That pretty blue cube was the key to it all, the beginning and the end of everything, and all Tony needed was to use it.

So that was what he did.

At once flashes of raw, unstable energy shot down the pathways that the Mind Stone had carved into Loki’s mind. For a brief, breathless moment there was nothing. Tony saw through his own eyes again and Loki’s body had gone still, cold and rigid in shock beneath his touch. Thor was standing and there was a commotion outside the doors, but all he could feel with the threat of the grave.

There was silence.

Then there was light.

Tony shielded his eyes from the shock wave of light that erupted from the Infinity Gauntlet. Loki tensed only once before his magic possessed him; the embers of his eyes were snuffed out by jade and his body arched. His wounds began to knit themselves together in fast-changing waves of green and blue as he let out something like a laugh, the sound torn between pain and triumph.

There was a shot of gold light as Mjolnir was rocketed out of its place, queuing the entrance of the guard. Thor cursed the nine as the doors of the dungeon began to open, drawing Tony’s panicked gaze. Green flashed behind him and Thor’s hammer smashed through stone and metal down the hall as Tony jumped to his feet, raising the infinity gauntlet as if it were a repulsor. He would fight if he had to.

It had occurred to him that, yes, he was outmatched. Thor swung a mighty punch, but Asgard was his home. He might champion for Loki on the sidelines, but there were only a few people who could move that hammer. Tony wasn’t convinced Thor would stand up against Odin in a real fight, and he didn’t blame for that.

His breath quickened as he saw more glinting armor beyond the opening doors; Mjolnir returned to Thor’s hand and Tony found himself wishing for JARVIS’ voice right about now.

Loki cleared his throat.

“While your bravery is commendable-” Tony’s turned to see Loki standing in his mess of clothes and blood, his voice impossibly smooth, “-you’d be misguided to let it kill you.”

The sorcerer snapped his fingers and the infinity gauntlet was disguised, a glove of the Iron Man armor appearing on Tony's arm with a flash of green. Loki cracked a smile at his partner’s unbelieving gaze.

“You-”

“It isn’t every day someone challenges death and rises victorious.” Loki interrupted. “That much I will grant you.”

He pushed his hand back through his hair, flashes of green glittering beneath his palm. Magic righted his style into place and cleaned it of sweat and blood, a wash of gold following to return his armor to him, now unbent and unbroken. With his horned helm tucked underneath his arm, he turned his eyes to the opening doors. The last of his grayed skin faded back to white.

“But harder still would be to face Odin’s wrath unscathed.”


	3. Chapter 3

Loki watched with mild interest as the scene unfolded. The Einherjar filed down the staircase and fanned out around his cell as Odin made his way down the steps, their ranks forming to separate him from Thor. Tony was still to the side, broadcasting his anxiety to the world with his quick breath and racing heart. There was a sharpness to his gaze that Loki knew from battle. Odin paused on the steps and Thor lowered his hammer.

But all of this was a mere flicker of information in his mind. Loki was far more concentrated on staying upright than assessing his surroundings; the remnants of the Tesseract’s power was surely the only thing that kept him standing. Though his own magic had been a bright fire in his breast moments before, his vanity had cost him. With only a few spells his magic had dwindled to nothing but a flicker, leaving him weak once more. He could only fight for consciousness as he felt the threat of oblivion loom over him.

But nevertheless, appearances needed to be kept.

“A pleasure to see you, as always.” Loki offered a mocking bow before straightening, 

_Shoulders back, head high,_ his Mother had once instructed. _If you must lie, Loki, do it well. Hide your weaknesses and sharpen your tongue._

The Einherjar broke rank to allow Odin to pass through them. A tense atmosphere settled between father and son, the silence interrupted only by the sound of Gungnir’s end settling on the stone floor. Tony’s breathing had evened and his hand began to lower. Thor was wary, knuckles white around his hammer.

But Loki knew the threat had not passed.

Odin’s eye bore into him. Speechlessness was not a common trait for Asgard’s king, but here he stood without a voice. By the look of it he was contemplating the matter, perhaps finding relief in something; Loki could not fathom the reason why.

“Surprised?” He ventured to guess, giving an open gesture with his free hand. “Do speak, by all means.”

Odin maintained his silence. Loki adjusted his helm underneath his arm, feeling the beginnings of frustration.

“Come, Allfather, what have you to say to your forsaken prisoner? Nay, to your son -- that is your claim, is it not? I am the son you left to rot.”

“Loki-” Thor tried, but his brother continued on.

“So sorry to disappoint. Surely you had hoped that I would die - that your problems would vanish with me.” Loki’s smile was cold. “Did you hope that you might conquer destiny itself? Fate bends for few.”

Whatever kindness had been in Odin’s gaze vanished.

“Your wickedness knows no bounds.”

“Father--”

Loki held his hand up to silence Thor’s protest again, his attention trained on Odin. He feigned a smile.

“You flatter me.”

“I do not.” Odin stepped closer, crossing the threshold into the cell. Tony sidestepped out of the way and Loki forced himself not to chuckle as Odin closed the distance between them. “Whatever bargain you have struck--”

“Do tell, _dear Father_ , how you think any bargain was struck in my former state?” Loki made a sweeping gesture to the blood stained floors, stepping back on one foot and beginning to circle around the mess. “‘Twas beyond my ability to speak, let alone plot.”

“And yet here you stand.”

“Father--” Thor tried again, but he was ignored.

“You would have me dead. This I know.” Loki stated, drawing to a halt on the other side of the dried blood. The remnants of his pain were cast between them. “If fate had marked me so, I would have been claimed. But we both know that is not my destiny.”

There was silence. Were it able to echo in these chambers it would have, but instead they were left with the cold that resonated from Loki’s truth. Destiny, prophecy, fate: these were the terrible factors that guided their lives. They were factors that cursed Loki and oft-filled his cup with scorn.

“Your destiny is nothing more than death.” Odin believed, speaking as plainly as he could. “It is a shroud about you, following in your shadow wherever you step. You need not even be present to herald its chaos -- your name needs only to be spoken for it to arrive.”

Loki steeled himself, his eyes narrowing with a hatred that bubbled deep within him. Grief and rage threatened to overcome him.

“‘Twas you who failed to protect her. Where were you when she was run through? Protecting ancient relics no doubt, instead of things more valuable--”

“Tis for your name that the blade fell--”

“--You are a fool if you refuse to see your own faults.”

“My only fault was in rescuing you from that frozen rock.”

Silence fell. Thor forced himself through the ranks of soldiers, standing in the ruins of his broken family.

“Her death lies with none but Kurse.” Thor insisted, his words solemn and heavy. “Loki dispatched the villain to Hel. It is done - let this pain lie. Mother would not have it.”

Loki’s helm vanished from underneath his arm and he folded his hands behind his back, letting the weight of this world settle on their shoulders.

“You give too much credit to your father’s ability to forgive.” he told his brother, “If there is anything we might share between us, ‘tis bitterness.”

“Brother-”

“Enough.” Loki shook his head. “He left me to die here. Let him call the executioner’s axe so this may finally end.”

“What?” It was Tony who spoke this time, finally breaking his silence. “Are you telling me you’d just let--”

“Asgard can no longer bear the burden of your mischief.” Odin decided, cutting straight through Tony’s outrage. “I cannot purge you of the darkness that corrupts your veins.”

“Darkness? Oh, I assure you, _dear Father_ \--” those words were laced with sarcasm, spat like venom from a snake’s tongue, “--only blue blood and ice run through these veins.”

“You are of Asgard, brother.” Thor insisted.

The laugh that slipped him made concern bloom in Tony’s mind.

“I have not been of Asgard since I fell from that bridge.”

“Then let it be so. Loki Odinson...” A pregnant pause, followed by a decision. “Nay, Loki Laufeyson. You have proven yourself unworthy of this realms--”

“Father!”

_Protest, Thor, as I did not do for you,_ Loki thought, the sound of his true name still burning white-hot in his chest, _But it shall change nothing._

“--and unworthy of your title. Death and chaos are upon you like a plague and you shall no longer poison these lands. You will be exiled from this kingdom for all your days, confined to the wastes and snow of Jotunheim. Let your ancestors decide your fate.”

Gungnir was stamped upon the floor as if to finalize these words, giving old power to the law that had just been written into Loki’s bones. The same had once been given to Thor, but he had proved his worth to overcome them. Loki knew he would not be shown the same forgiveness; this decree was the last word any would have on the matter of his fate. Until the day he was to herald Ragnarok.

He was close to delivering a sharp response when he felt a hand on his arm. Odin turned to leave and the window for his rebuttal closed, but Loki’s attention was drawn to the man at his side. Tony had moved near to touch him, perhaps to support him, and somehow that made him feel less alone on this path. Some of his anger faded in that moment of distraction. The Einherjar drew close to collect their former prince, but he paid them no mind. He was far too caught up in the gaze leveled upon him.

Rebellion was a blazing inferno in Stark’s eyes. In that moment Loki realized how wrong his first words had been.

‘Twould be far harder to escape Tony’s wrath unscathed than that of any king’s.

 


	4. Chapter 4

It was down long corridors they walked, their footsteps echoing off the marble and gold. The pillars and immaculate hallways led them to the main doors of the palace, which framed their exit down the staircase and onto the city streets. But no matter what wonders they passed, Tony could still hear it all the same: each foot fall, each heart beat, and the angry rush of his own blood.

He needed to pull the deus ex machina of all deus ex machinas, and the clock was ticking by fast.

Odin led their party through the city in silence, Loki trailing behind him with an escort of guards. Tony was too distracted to see what Thor watched: men and women parting in the streets, whispering low, watching this sorry parade from a safe distance.

Once, Loki might have cared about their judgement. The shadow of Thor hadn't stretched so far that he had been shrouded from the public eye, but he was disenchanted with the masses and their opinions. What praise they might have held mattered little. He was far more focused on staying upright as he walked down their streets, shackled. Loki had shrugged off the weight of Asgard; if he did not rule it, he did not worry for it. But he would not falter and fall before them.

Tony's focus remained within; he was blind to the city and its people as he schemed. He had the trump card, he knew - the convenient plot device. The Infinity Gauntlet was just waiting to be used, secured around his wrist and hidden only by a few layers of Loki-green magic. The space stone and the mind stone could turn the tables to his favor. He could rip a giant portal in the sky or try his hand at mind control. It was the fast way out. The easy way.

As easy as building a suit of metal armor in a desert cave and walking away with a smile on his face.

The sound of their footsteps moving onto glass pulled him from his wandering thoughts. The stone streets had become a rainbow bridge, its length stretched before them and jutting out into endless space. The stars managed to stretch even further, spotting the galaxies and planets in pinpricks of light. At the end of it all stood the Bifrost, a golden sentinel waiting for the end of this dirge.

He saw Loki trip and stumble forward, his footing failing in exhaustion. The guards pulled the chains taut to catch him, much to his displeasure. He sneered, righting himself as regally as he could. But he couldn’t hide the strange paleness to his skin or the redness in his eyes. His hands might have been shaking, but he had balled them to hide the trembling.

Tony decided he would set fire to every galaxy he could see, time and time again, if that would calm the rage in his mind - if that would punish the Kings who decreed cruel sentences. He had been thrown away to another realm before, left to rot like yesterday’s trash. No one got to do that to another person. No one got to do that to Loki.

He readied himself to do what needed to be done, damn the consequenc-

“Worry not, friend.” Thor’s voice interrupted the quick cadence of Tony’s thoughts, pulling him back to reality again. “The simplest answer is usually the best.”

Thor’s pace doubled and he left Tony to bring up the end of the procession. What could possibly be the simplest answer to this situation? A quick game of distract and flee? Grab him and run while Thor did a hula dance in the background? 

Tony slowed to a thoughtful halt in front of the entryway.

 _"When you can't beat a problem, run away from it."_ Clint had said once, half-drunk and twirling an arrow between his fingers.  _"We're the Avengers. People don't expect us to run! Throw a smoke bomb and book it. Regroup and cut a bitch later."_

“Welcome, my King,” Heimdall greeted, standing at the mouth of the Bifrost. His eyes followed Loki before returning to Odin. "Word travels fast. Midgard is safe.”

Odin shook his head, but it was Loki who spoke first. 

“Nay, All-seer, we come with far gladder tidings. We come to send a monster home.”

“I see.”

“Of course you do.”

“Enough.” Odin said, silencing them. “Let us proceed without delay. If Anthony Stark-”

“Tony is just fine, thanks.” he cut in, rejoining the group.

"-can be returned, let it be done. He belongs on his own realm.”

“But I was having so much fun.”

“Sarcasm is lost on him,” Loki added, his tone weak. “Don’t waste your cleverness.”

“Cleverness?”

“I did not think it would be lost on you. Clever, indeed.”

“Enough!” Odin declared again, aggravated by their nonchalance.

“No last words, then?” Loki wondered, his voice raw. “As you say. Let's ship the mortal home and get on with the ice and blood.”

The King ignored this and proceeded into the Bifrost. Heimdall followed his King and Loki’s party attempted to move forward, but Thor stopped them at the threshold.

“I’ll not see my brother sent to Jotunheim in this fashion.” Thor announced, answering Odin’s question before it was answered. “If he is to be judged by others, let it not be in our chains.”

“Leave the shackles.” Odin decided. “But yes, let the rest go.”

As Thor undid the manacles around Loki’s hips and ankles, the younger man managed a smile.

“I remember a moment almost like this.” he murmured, swaying precariously on freed legs. “I stabbed you shortly thereafter. And cut off your hand.”

Thor chuckled despite his worries.

“Aye.” He took Loki by the bicep, steadying him. “'Tis a fond memory.”

"Step forward, Anthony Stark." Heimdall stood at his place on his pedestal, hands around the hilt of a broadsword embedded in the dais. 

"Tony." he muttered, glancing to Thor as he passed. "That's some sword in the stone shit, Golden Eye."

Heimdall might have smiled. Tony stood in front of an archway that framed the universe out beyond them.

Thor guided Loki up to stand behind him. It was the queue from hell, Tony thought. 

“What was so unsafe about Midgard, Stark?” Loki wondered, his voice now reduced to a whisper. Mechanics began to whir about them, rays of light washing out the stars. “They would not bring you here for any idle threat.”

“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?” Tony asked, looking back over his shoulder. Thor had retreated back to stand with his father.

“What would you have me do? Declare my undying devotion?”

“You should be worrying about how to be getting out of this mess. And not passing out.”

Loki's knees buckled and Tony rammed his shoulder into Loki's clavicle to keep him on his feet. It was an awkward position that barely keep them upright, but Odin didn't comment. Thor had taken Mjolnir off his hip and garnered his father's attention.

A chill radiated off Loki's skin. His shackled fists dug into the base of Tony's spine, distributing some of the weight off his shoulders. 

“I trust you.”

He was failing, his power spent and his strength waning. Tony didn't know if Loki trusted him out of necessity or sincerity, but it didn't matter. They were going to make it out of this place.

“...Thor told me not to worry.” 

Loki stared blankly at the portal forming in front of them.

“I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

“Shut up.” He detached himself from Loki and spun to grab his arm, causing the sorcerer to sway dangerously. “You’re ruining the moment.”

“What moment?”

Tony gestured behind Loki with a pointed nod. Thor was standing near his father with Mjolnir still in hand. He seemed to be preparing himself for something, albeit somewhat blatantly. Odin and Heimdall were watching him. He spun the hammer by its strap.

The portal opened.

“This moment.”

He squeezed Loki's arm and broke into a mad dash, dragging him forward into the unknown. Loki stumbled before his feet caught up to his mind, shock in his eyes until he found his footing. Then he could smile, his grin wicked even through his pain.

“You’re mad.”

Odin yelled after them. They dove into the portal before Heimdall could close it, the now-familiar hitch of dimensional displacement catching in Tony's chest. A burst of golden magic chased into the void after them, shot from Gungnir, but Tony fired his repulsor at it; a bullet of blue collided with the gold, resulting in an explosion that fractured rays of light like glass. Loki’s shackles shattered. His illusion broke with a flash of green fire and the Infinity Gauntlet was exposed, but this was all lost in the column of light that was their portal.

A heartbeat later they hit the ground, hard. Both men lost their footing as sand and heat whipped around them in a hurricane of magic and wind. When it dispersed they found themselves sitting under the desert sun, back to back, deposited in middle of the Bifrost’s knotwork footprint. The sand smoldered black and Tony blinked up at the sun.

“...mad…” Loki echoed himself, laughing softly. His voice was drifting away on the desert breeze, fading fast. “Brilliantly... mad...”

Tony’s eyes went wide. There was no time to celebrate.

“Don’t you dare-”

But by the time he thought to threaten him, Loki had already fallen unconscious. 


	5. Chapter 5

Tony was familiar with being stranded in the desert. The lack of prison caves and angry warmongers was an upgrade, but being saddled with an unconscious pseudo-god was a bit of a drawback. It could be argued that the shrapnel in his chest had been an even bigger drawback, but this time he didn’t think he could manufacture an Iron Man suit from sand and willpower alone to compensate.

“Well… here we are.” Tony grunted, glancing over his shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

He didn’t expect a ‘thank you’ back, but Loki didn’t even so much as grunt. Not a twitch, not a tired sigh; nothing. He was out. Tony sighed on his behalf.  
  
“Stay here.”

As if he was going anywhere.

Tony stood up with only minor difficulty, brushing off his suit and tinkering with the Infinity Gauntlet until he could wrench it free from his arm. Without support Loki was left to sway precariously in his seated position, teetering back and forth as his weight shifted. It wasn’t long before gravity won its battle and he fell rightways onto his side. There was a slight puff of dust and sand beneath him, accompanied by a groan and a slow exhale.  
  
“Serves you right.” Tony grumbled.  
  
He shrugged off his jacket and deposited it next to Loki, beginning to focus on the task at hand.

Where were they? When were they? Being in a desert standing on the Bifrost’s latticework wasn’t much to go on. If they really were on Earth he wanted to find the nearest car or telephone. And a cheeseburger. The order didn’t particularly matter.

For now he just had the surrounding valley to stare at. Above was blue sky and a hot sun, unobscured by clouds. Nearby mountain ranges peaked to hide the horizon and cast a shadow that crept towards them. There was no one around for miles. Their only company was the breeze and the heat; however, there was something to merit attention. An abandoned structure stood near the base off that mountain range, perhaps a mile off.

_A quarantine?_

Tony loosened his tie.

The structure was like a tent, made of white plastic walls and metal supports that domed in the center and branched out into small hallways and doors. It definitely looked like a quarantine.

With nowhere else to go and no desire to start dragging Loki around by his ankles, he didn’t see any reason that he shouldn’t check the place out. It couldn’t be a trap. Why would it be? It was more likely that the Bifrost - or rather, someone using it - had been here before.  
  
Tony had an inkling of an idea as to who that had been.

“I’ll be back.”

Loki exhaled. The breeze brushed through his hair.

Tony set off with the Infinity Gauntlet in hand, wiping sweat off his brow and tugging at his tie as he went. It didn’t take long for him to reach the suspected quarantine - which did, in fact, end up being a quarantine.

The walls of the structure were torn and battered from weather and vandalism. Tony had a passing thought about rambunctious, drunk teenagers coming and going - as indicated by the many tire tracks left in the sand outside - but didn’t dwell long on the possibility of anyone being here. It was silent. The doors were locked.

Tony bypassed them entirely and stepped through the tattered walls to get inside.

There wasn’t much to see. The aforementioned teenagers had cleaned the place out and left their beer bottles behind. Papers were strewn across the ground. Some bare, open-chested filing cabinets were pushed up against the wall further down the corridor. Tony leaned down to pick some of the papers up, flipping through a blue file with mild interest.

_SHIELD._

Their eagle insignia was printed inside, emblazoned on forgotten, indecipherable information that was largely blacked-out. Tony tossed the file on the ground and didn’t bother to pick any more up as he explored. He already knew everything he needed to know about SHIELD and its inner workings. Anything they had left behind was likely unimportant. But it had confirmed one thing:

_New Mexico._

He let out a sigh of relief and leaned against a railing.

The passageways had opened up to the center-most dome of the quarantine. He stood among multi-level scaffolding and walkways, all of which were littered with broken lights and equipment. Empty road cases and tool chests lined the walls. It was the heart of the Puente Antiguo scandal - Tony recognized this place from Coulson’s files. The video of Thor struggling and failing to lift the hammer came to mind.  
  
Now the dirt-and-rock pedestal stood empty, erected as the epicenter of the crater. Tony knew there wasn’t anything to be interested in here. It was just a crater and sand, but he couldn’t help himself. He had to sate his curiosity.

A thought came to him as he made his way down the stairs towards the crater. Images flickered in his mind - he saw Mjolnir sitting silently on its pedestal. He felt hope. With Thor forsaken, surely it was his to wield now. He was worthy. But as he tried to lift it it refused to budge. Again and again he failed, until he could only to look to the sky in annoyance and silently curse his father. Even in sleep Odin could still slight him.

This was Loki’s memory, lingering in Tony’s thoughts. The mind stone had dug deep, granting him access to things he never should have seen. So he shook his head and tried to push past the memory, pausing on the staircase as he tried to regain focus. Sightseeing into Loki's past wouldn't get him anywhere.

“Damn it.”  
  
He turned back towards the walkway and left the crater behind. He had to get his priorities straight: telephone, car, or cheeseburger. A computer would be even better. Hopefully those government bureaucrats had left something behind.

Aside from a few tools and loose ends, it turned out that there wasn’t anything useful to be found.

Tony cracked his neck and grumbled to himself as he walked back out to the desert. He could still see Loki slumped over in the distance, either tanning or getting a nasty sunburn. Whatever he was suffering didn’t matter in the grand scheme. Tony had to get them out of here before Asgard sent someone after them or SHIELD figured out where they were. Maybe they weren’t fugitives of the law, but Tony didn’t like relying on their help. Or answering their questions.

He decided to take a walk around the perimeter of the quarantine to clear his head. He had expected it to be a colossal waste of time, but lo and behold! SHIELD had left something worthwhile behind.

“Ah, there you are, baby.” Tony smiled, running his hand through his hair. “What did they do to you?”

A broken down SUV was parked around the back, basking in the midday sun. It had been stripped of almost anything worthwhile, as was the fate of any abandoned middle-class luxury car. But it had four wheels that were only minorly deflated. Tony could work with the missing windows, cracked windshield, and the curious lack of backseat passenger doors. Aesthetics didn’t matter this time. All that mattered was that the wheels turned and that the motor turned-over.

“C’mon, pretty thing.” he cooed, popping open the driver door. “Let’s get you working.”

After fetching some tools and hardware from inside the quarantine, Tony set to work. From time to time he would step away to look at Loki’s distant form, which remained unchanging through the hours. Still unconscious, still slumped over. The car was far more interesting than his companion.

The sun was inching towards the horizon by the time Tony was able to hotwire the engine. Fixing the motor had taken some creativity and MacGyver-isms, but nothing vital had been missing from the car. The A/C didn’t work and the stereo had been stolen, but it was moving vehicle brought back from the dead. That was all that mattered.  
  
“Let me hear that purr…”

He stripped the appropriate wires with his teeth, spitting out the plastic insulation and twisting the ends together. He crossed the remaining wires with care, smiling as they sparked.

“C’moooon.”  
  
The engine groaned and sputtered before dying. Tony grit his teeth and tried again, this time to success. The engine gave a cough and revved as he pressed down on the gas pedal with his hand. A grin broke out on his face.

“That right!”

He tossed the Infinity Gauntlet on the passenger’s seat and pulled himself up into the driver’s seat. In seconds he was kicking up dust as he sped through the desert. The gas tank was just over half full. It would get them far enough.

He pulled to a stop next to Loki.  
  
“Still pale as a ghost, you son of bitch.” Tony grumbled, stepping out of the car. “C’mon. Let’s get the hell out of here.”  
  
After an awkward fireman’s carry and a less than gentle deposit into the passenger’s seat, Tony was back driving. Loki didn’t regain consciousness at any point, but that wasn’t going to stop Tony from talking to him.

“You owe me, you know.”  
  
He glanced to the broken screen on the dashboard as if he expected the GPS to magically work. The best he had to go off of were the trails of old tire tracks.

“Follow the teenagers. Because that’s never gone wrong.”

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, sighing. Loki would wake up. Eventually.

* * *

By nightfall he had found a proper highway. Puente Antiguo was nowhere to be seen, but signs along the road indicated another small desert town was coming up within the hour. A gas station along the way had provided a full tank and shitty snacks, both of which had been purchased with a famous Tony Stark IOU and a few selfies. Being world-renown had its perks.

Loki hadn’t woken up, but his breathing remained constant throughout the drive. The silence didn’t bother Tony anymore. He kept himself busy planning his grand, dramatic return to New York. Nothing would really surprise Pepper, but once he got to California he'd have everything at his disposal to make an explosive entrance. The Avengers deserved a good kick in the pants every once in a while. Maybe he could shock Bruce into a Code Green.

Maybe that wasn’t a good goal to have.

“What do you think? You’re my number two Mean-and-Green.”

Loki’s head rolled to the other side after a bump in the road.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Tony leaned back in his seat and tapped his fingers along to the rhythm in his head. Maybe the silence was getting to him after all.

The quiet was broken when traffic started to pick up. A metallic hum rang out over the wheels on the highway, evolving into something that sounded overwhelmingly like helicopter blades. It escalated until Tony couldn’t deny it anymore - a goddamn helicopter was on their tail.

“Looks like we've got visitors.”

Sure enough, Tony caught sight of the helo moments before it pulled up beside them.

“Mr. Stark!”

The aircraft came to hover beside the car, keeping speed with them and flying dangerously low. Tony identified the aircraft with one quick glance: SHIELD’s black ops helo, which was reserved exclusively for the STRIKE team. He didn’t recognize anyone piloting it. However, the one screaming at him looked familiar.

“Rumlow!” Tony yelled back. “Nice night, huh?”

The model-esque SHIELD agent smiled back from behind his megaphone. The expression was friendly, familiar; Tony didn’t believe it for a second. He knew that smile - it was one of Natasha's favorites. It usually meant he was about to lose a bet.

“Pull over, Mr. Stark.” The agent ordered. “Director Fury sent us to find you.”

No he didn’t, Tony thought. Fury would come himself and he wouldn’t endanger civilian lives in the process. There was nothing about his encounter that he trusted.  
  
“Thanks, but no thanks. Tell his lazy ass to come get me.”  
  
A car behind them flipped on its siren, flashing red-and-blue lights. Tony glanced in his mirrors and took stock of his situation. Four men in the helicopter, three in the car behind them. All trained and working for SHIELD. Friends in high places.

He might have believed them if they weren’t packing weapons and wearing battle armor.

“Fresh off a mission?”

“Mr. Stark-”

“Body armor looks good on you, but I’m not a fan of having guns pointed in my face.”

Of which there were four and counting.

“Who’s with you, Mr. Stark?”

“My boyfriend.” he shot back, coating on just enough sarcasm to be comfortable. “I’ll return the car when I’m done. Tell Fury to bill me.”

He sped up, trying to put some space between himself and the other car. They caught up with ease.

“Have you ever heard about my problems with authority?”

“Mr. Stark, I won’t ask you again.”

“I believe he said no.”

Loki’s interruption was accompanied with a flash of green light and a blare of alarms from the helicopter. It veered to the left and then up and out of sight. Tony looked to Loki with surprise, managing to keep his focus on driving as the man leaned half over to him to launch his attack out the window.

“They’re not here on the Director's order.”

“I got that much, thanks.” Tony said, pushing the car to its limits as he sped off into the night. “Convenient time for you to wake up.”

“Perhaps I was simply enjoying the silence.”

“Or waiting for the dramatic reveal.”

“Coming from you? I sense hypocrisy.”

“Is the man who likes monologues and flashy magic calling _me_ dramatic?”

“Shall we argue or focus on getting out alive?”

“Good point.”

On that subject, he wasn’t entirely certain there would be a good way to get out of this. Unless Thor came bursting out of the sky to their rescue, it was one suitless Iron Man and an exhausted sorcerer against some SHIELD agents with questionable intentions.

“Any clue what’s going on?”

“I’ve neither seen nor bothered with your world for near a year. I’m afraid I have no insight into why yet another person wants to kill you.”

“No need to get snippy.”

“Hn.”  
  
Tony shook his head, weaving around a lonesome car on the highway. The car chasing them followed suit. Loki crawled out of his seat into the far back to assess the situation himself. It wasn’t long before Tony caught a glint of metal in his rearview mirror - Loki was twirling daggers between his fingers, crouched down in the trunk of the car.

Tony glanced back over his shoulder. “How do you know they want to kill me?”

“There's often a lack of good intentions behind a weapon.”

“Optimistic, aren’t you?”

Tony turned back to the road. With the car windows broken and the helicopter coming back on their side, Loki had clear lines of sight. He knew he could do some damage with those knives, but would it be enough?

Whether or not it would didn’t matter - gunshots rang out into the night. Tony swore and swerved the car, keeping on the road while trying to maneuver away from the helicopter.

Rumlow had given up on calling out warnings. He was talking to his men, leaning out the helicopter as one of his comrades levied a gun at him. Gone were the friendly expressions they had tried before. Tony was faced with the stone-cold glare of a killer.

Tony glared back, weaving further through traffic as the highway activity grew denser. The helicopter had to take a wide berth to compensate. More cars meant a nearby town. That either meant Tony might be able to lose him or some early morning commuters were about to get caught in a nasty crossfire.

“Loki!”

“Patience.”

Rumlow drew his pistol and fired at the car. At Tony, to be precise; he swerved off the road and into the dirt to maneuver out of close range. Civilian cars honked and the chase continued.

“Steady, Stark.” Loki guided.

“Now is not the time to critique my driving!”

Losing the helicopter was a feat for champions - or, rather, a feat for Iron Man. But the suit and man were separated. Tony could outrun the best of them, but bringing a broken down car to a helicopter chase was like bringing a knife to a gunfight. One party clearly had the upper hand.

There was a flash of metal in Tony’s mirrors and then the screech of brakes rang out over the hum of the chopper. Red-and-blue sirens toppled over and rolled out of sight from behind them, kicking up dust and dirt in the tumble. Loki moved back up behind the driver’s seat to avoid the worst of the crash’s damage as Tony did his best to focus on the road (or lack thereof) in front of them.

“...Whatever you did, tell me you can do that to a helicopter.”

“Unlikely.”

“Well, Loki, we’re running out of time.”

“I’m aware.”

The helicopter came back up on their side, positioning the barrels of multiple guns at eye-level. Tony threw curses with the same intensity that Rumlow fired his guns; two bullets grazed him, one over the cheek and one deep into his arm. Blood spilled and a wave of cold air washed over Tony - familiar and unwelcome all at once.

“I cannot sustain this.” Loki warned.

It was then that he realized that the onslaught of bullets had been stopped only by a thin barrier Loki had erected. It hovered just outside the window where bullets ricocheted off the magic, sending them back towards the helicopter. But even he could see the magic faltering with every shockwave it absorbed; the thin green veil would fail before Rumlow ran out of ammunition.

“The gauntlet.” Loki continued, laboring already. “Use it. Move us, them; I care not.”

Managing to keep an eye to the desert and a hand on the wheel, Tony fished the Infinity Gauntlet out from the floor of the passenger’s seat. He hadn’t used it outside of some rather explosive experiments since the second battle of New York. Saving Loki in Asgard had been an act under pressure, its success credited to instinct and dumb luck. Could he pull off something like that again?

Rumlow must have realized that shooting at them wasn’t effective. His aim had moved over to the hood of the car, where bullets now slid and bounced of metal. But some shot through straight into the engine. The steering wheel began to shake as smoke billowed out from underneath the hood.

“Fuck this.”

The Infinity Gauntlet finally set in place and magic spilled into Tony’s hand, shooting up his veins like a drug. It brought a familiar warmth and promise of power, whispers from a universe Tony didn’t understand. He could wear the gauntlet for fashion’s sake without these temptations, but with the promise of use it spilled with power.

“Will us somewhere safe.” Loki instructed, pulling him back into focus. “Anywhere but here, Stark. Act.”

Tony’s eyes bled with blue - the gauntlet cast a spell heavier than any drink, sweeter than any wine - as he focused on the task at hand. The thought of a portal crossed his mind and one opened; Loki grabbed his arm and flung open the car door, dragging him into the abyss with great faith. ‘Safe’ brought thoughts of New York, but thoughts of New York were stained with blood. Portals and death and the endless universe - no, that place wasn’t safe. Not if SHIELD was compromised and looking for them. That was the first place they would go.

For the split second when the two men hovered between realms, Tony remembered being cold. His mind worked at a million thoughts a second trying to make a decision, but he could still clearly remember waking up in the Tennessee snow after his last getaway attempt. Being alone, dragging a broken suit through the dirt, but being safe from his enemies. Having to find a payphone to call Pepper and apologize, explain -

_“...That’s all I know. I just stole a poncho off a wooden Indian.”_

Cold broke over them both without mercy. It wasn’t magic, just the chill in the air and flakes of snow that blew through the portal. Tony and Loki stumbled out together into a frozen world - but, more specifically, into the side of a building.

Loki tumbled in the grass as he lost his footing. Tony’s feet caught to the ground and he stumbled into a run, falling straight into a brick wall. He caught himself gauntlet-first on it - it hurt, but the metal took the brunt of the impact.

Tony didn’t give himself the time to feel any pain. He spun on his heel to face where the portal had been incase anything had followed them through, but there was only open air. Loki lay on the ground and stared up at the sky, his expression betraying relief. Tony felt the same. He exhaled and leaned back against the wall, pulling the Infinity Gauntlet free from his arm. As his breath fogged the air, his eyes bled back to brown.

“Welcome home.” he laughed to himself, sliding to sit on the ground. “Shit…”

He placed the gauntlet between his legs and held his head his his hands, elbows on knees. His arm throbbed where he had been shot, but he wasn’t giving himself any time to worry over it. One bullet graze was nothing in the face of escaping near death. Again.

“Where are we?”

Loki was sitting up now, facing Tony as he shook a few snowflakes out of his hair. His skin had lost its color and dark circles were ghosting beneath his eyes, a worsening sign of his exhaustion. Did one spell really put so much of a strain on him?

“The middle of nowhere.” Tony answered, shaking his head. “It’ll take a while for anyone to track us down here.”

“Hm.”

Loki stood with careful, slow movements. He brushed off his jacket and moved to him, offering out a hand in assistance.

“We’d best find a way out of the cold.”

It was snowing lightly; cold enough to cause discomfort but not to immediately chase someone inside. Loki certainly didn’t seem to be bothered. Tony, however, was a fan of warmer climates.

“All right.”

He took Loki’s hand readily, not thinking about the position this would put him in. A position which Loki used to draw Tony in closer once he was on his feet, pulling on his hand and arm to bring him in to inspect his wounds.

“I’m fine.” Tony protested lightly.

“Hush.”

Loki’s free hand skated over his cheekbone briefly, inspecting the burned cut in silence. Up close Tony could see Loki’s state for what it really was - absolute exhaustion, wherein a man had been taken to his limits and beyond. The Aether had poisoned him and Odin had let it fester. If Tony hadn’t arrived when he did…

No, he didn’t want to think about that.

“How do you feel?”

“How do I feel?” Loki parrotted, glancing up to meet his gaze before returning to his arm. “Escaping death comes with its consequences. This will pass. What of your arm?”

“Stings. It’s fine.” He shrugged off Loki’s gaze, letting go of his hand. “C’mon. We’ll talk inside.”

He folded his arms against the cold, turning away from Loki. Shortly thereafter there was a weight on his shoulders, accompanied by the smell of leather.  
  
“Take it.” Loki said, coming up to stand at his side as Tony stared at the jacket that had been hung on his shoulders. “The cold doesn't bother me. You’ve already begun to tremble.”

Tony balled his fists as if to hide his slight shiver, but he did reluctantly pull his arms through Loki’s jacket. At least it was warm, but damn was it heavy.

“How do you fight in this?”

“How do you fight in a metal suit?” Loki answered, beginning to walk as Tony did. “Take care what pockets you stick your hands in.”

Tony made a face and decidedly kept his hands out of any pockets, instead letting them hang at his sides. They passed by a wooden indian and a phone booth as they walked down the street.

“Now where exactly do you plan for us to stay?” Loki inquired.

“With a friend.”


	6. Chapter 6

There was still plenty of snow-covered Tennessee street they had to walk to get to civilization. The gas station they had crash landed at was on the outskirts of town, a few miles out from where Tony was trying to get them to. Between here and there was just flatland and road.

Tony shoved the Infinity Gauntlet in one of the jacket pockets and crossed his arms, fending off the cold underneath layers of leather. Loki walked beside him with his eyes on the dark sky and his hands at his sides. Snowflakes were caught in his hair. His breath fogged the air.

“...Asgard is different, in this regard.” Loki murmured, holding his hand out to the falling snow. “The climate is far too warm for this.”

“Never seen snow?” Tony asked.

“On the contrary.” He let his hand fall. “Is your ‘friend’ trustworthy?”

As trustworthy as a twelve-year-old could be, Tony thought.

“Trustworthy enough. We won’t stay long. You can rest, I can contact Jarvis… We’ll be gone by morning.”

“Hm.” Loki looked back up to the skies. Tony thought about the stars hidden behind the clouds.

“Do we need to worry about Asgard?”

“Unlikely. I’ve been banished. Odin should worry himself with me no longer.” A smile tugged at his lips. “Given your actions, it is likely he has rescinded your protection as well.”

“Protection? I might be irresponsible, but you’ve always got to-”

“You’ve lost an ally.” Loki continued, ignoring his comment. “Is that truly satisfying?”

“I’m not a fan of people who lock me up.”

Loki nodded. He looked back to the stars, thoughtful.

“Understandable.”

Silence reigned until they arrived at the house. Tony brought them around back to the garage. There were lights on inside, someone moving behind the door. Loki leaned against the wall and positioned himself out of sight.

Tony raised his hand to knock, but the door flung open before he could. A young boy stood in the doorway, wide-eyed and brandishing a screwdriver. He must have grown half a foot since Tony had last seen him. After a long moment, Harley Keener dropped the screwdriver he had been holding.

“Oh my god.”

“That’s what you said last time.” Tony pointed out, nonchalant. “Hey.”

Harley proceeded to knock the wind straight out of him, tackling him into an embrace around the waist. Tony coughed and shook his head as Harley squeezed him tight.

“Jeez, kid.”

“They said you were dead. Again.” Harley accused, pulling away from Tony and grabbing his hand to drag him inside. “Are you only going to visit when you’re dead?”

“Only if I’m desperate. Ow, ow - cool it.” Tony wrenched his injured arm from the boy’s grasp, glancing back to the door. Loki was still standing outside, out of sight. Traitor.

“What happened? There was a weird smoke bomb in New York and then Asgard and now New Mexico - your car crashed and the news said they couldn’t find a body and SHIELD said you were attacked, you might be dead-”

“Breathe.”

“What about New York?”

“What did I say about that?”

“Not _that_ New York. _New York._ ” Harley insisted, his inflection indicating one battle from another.

“Still the same place.” Tony sat on the couch and Harley kept talking.

“Okay, then where’s your suit?” he tried.

“Not here.”

“Is it broken again?”

“No.”

“What about the Avengers?”

“Who cares?”

“Where’s Thor?”

“Asgard.”

“Is he ok?”

“Maybe.”

Tony could keep pace with the best of them, his answers as curt as Harley’s were quick.

“Maybe? But- wait, who’s coat is that?”

“Kid-”

“Your ‘friend’ is a _child_?” Loki stood in the doorway, hands folded behind his back. Tony had never seen him quite so annoyed.

Harley might have been able to keep talking, but his jaw had gone slack. It was the classic ‘deer in the headlights’ look, frozen in place out of fear and surprise alone. Who could blame him? It didn’t matter what anyone had said after the second battle of New York; everyone still remembered the first. Loki was a green cape and a pair of golden horns that had ripped open portals and changed everything and everyone. The world had been turned upside down.

“Don’t scare him.” Tony ignored the nagging feeling that wrath was heading his way. “Hey, kid. Harley. Yeah, you, look at me. Not the scary man, me.”

“That’s…”

“Yes, it is. He’s with me. Calm down.”

“But why, I thought… Tony-”

“You wanna talk about New York?” he challenged. “Big ass aliens and creepy Asgardians? Without him, I’d still be in Asgard. You’d still think I killed Thor and Amora would've destroyed everything.”

“They said _he_ was working with Amora. I didn’t think you killed-”

“He was working with _us_. How many times-?”

Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as his frustration grew. No matter how many times Tony had tried to tell the public that Loki hadn’t been involved with Amora - with the Avenger’s support - the press never listened. Conspiracy theorists ran wild. Politicians called them liars. Steve and Fury had expected it, Clint seemed smug about the whole thing, and Thor was perpetually disappointed. Natasha and Pepper had been largely unsurprised.

“Yeah, sure, you don’t think I killed Thor. Whatever.” he continued, crossing his arms. “Doesn’t matter. We’re here now. He’s with me. Got it?”

Harley paused, still tense. He stared at Loki and Loki stared back. It wasn’t long before he had to break eye contact, unable to bear the scrutiny. He turned back to Tony and moved a little closer to widen the gap between himself and this perceived villain.

“Do you trust me?” Tony pressed.

“...Yeah. I guess.”

“Let him think whatever he pleases.” Loki interrupted. “Explain to me why you wish to involve a boy in this.”

“He’s already been involved. You think I want to drag him into this?” Tony asked, standing again. His frustration only continued to grow. “You’re the one who wanted me to get us out of there.”

“Into the safe embrace of a child? You consider yourself a genius, and yet-”

“I’m not a child.” Harley insisted.

“Oh?” Loki’s attention made Harley cringe, but Tony took a step forward to put himself between the two. “Enlighten me, then. Go on.”

Like hell Harley was going to take the brunt of Loki’s wrath.

“He’s saved my ass before-” Tony argued.

“Damn right.”

“-Shut it, kid. You either trust me or you don’t, Loki. Which is it?”

Loki seethed. Tony stared him down. He was fully aware that his impending demise was being planned at this very moment, but it was a good thing he was wearing the jacket that Loki kept all his knives in. Still, if looks could kill...

Loki relented. He averted his gaze from the duo and shut the door behind him, beginning to stalk about the garage while the muscles in his jaw worked. Tony knew to leave well enough alone and ignore the glares. He turned back to Harley as Loki inspected their temporary hiding spot.

“Tony-”

He held his hand up.

“Who’s home?”

“But Tony-”

“ _Kid_.”

Tony folded his arms. Harley mimicked his stance as his eyes trailed the super villain in his garage.

“Mom and sis’ are asleep.”

“Can you keep your trap shut about us?”

The boy’s gaze flicked back up to Tony.

“If you stay quiet. What’s in it for me?”

“Not being murdered in your sleep by green aliens. How about that?”

With the way Harley’s eyes widened, Tony quickly realized he had said the wrong thing. As usual. He took a look around the room to think, but the only thing he could really pay attention to was Loki, who had taken to leaning against a wall. At least the glaring had stopped.

“What’s in your pocket?” Harley ventured, bringing Tony’s attention back to him. “Is that part of the suit?”

Tony glanced down to the Infinity Gauntlet poking out of his pocket. He looked back to Harley and threw caution to the wind.

“No, it’s cooler than that. Look.”

He carelessly handed the Infinity Gauntlet over to Harley, who took it with curiously.

“What does it do?”

“Magic.”

“Really? Show me-”

“I think not.”

Tony couldn’t tell whether Loki had materialized behind Harley or simply moved while no one was watching him. Either way, it gave both him and the boy a start as Loki plucked the gauntlet from Harley’s hand.

“If you want to weaponize the boy, give him something less lethal.”  
  
He extended a hand out, holding the blade of a dagger and offering the hilt to Harley. The boy stared at him in bewilderment. His nervousness was not easy to overlook.

“I mean you no harm. If you doubt that, you have something to protect yourself with.”

Harley’s attention slowly moved to the silver dagger presented to him. He took it from Loki and began to turn it over in his hands, examining the Asgardian engravings on the hilt and blade. A snake design slithered along its length.

“...Cool.”

“Do try not to cut yourself.”

Tony relaxed, exhaling a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. Loki turned and moved to the couch, slowly lowering himself down into the cushions. His exhaustion seemed to return now that he accepted - or rather, tolerated - their situation.

“Computer, cellphone, cheeseburgers.” Tony announced, pulling Harley’s attention away from his new toy. He shrugged off Loki’s jacket. “Some peace and quiet, too.”

Harley made a face, but he knew he should keep to his word.

“Cheeseburgers tomorrow.” he haggled.

“Everything else now. And a sandwich.”

Harley rolled his eyes but stuck out his hand in agreement. Tony shook it.

“Scram.”

Harley went on his way. Tony deposited himself next to Loki on the couch and tossed his jacket on his lap.

“And they say you’re not good with kids.”

“ _You’re_ not good with kids.” Harley called back, opening the door into his house. “He’s got six.”

Loki just stared at the door as it swung closed behind their little protector.

* * *

“Six, huh?” Tony asked though a mouthful of tuna sandwich. “What’s he blabbering about?”

Twenty minutes and one supply delivery later, Tony had made himself at home in the Keener garage. He sat a computer he had gifted to Harley ages ago.

“Mythos.” Loki guessed.

Tony grunted and finished tying off the bandage around his arm, his sandwich stuck between his teeth.

Harley nodded from behind his laptop. He had put quite a distance between himself and Loki, but he wasn’t about to leave Tony Stark alone in his garage. He was loading up on candy and Mountain Dew for the all-nighter.

“My sister has a book about Thor and Norse stuff.” Loki’s minor interest in what the boy had to say immediately turned into apathy. “One of them was a horse.”

This comment was rewarded with a pillow to the face. Loki hadn’t left the couch since he had decided to occupy it, but that wouldn’t stop him from weaponizing anything within reach. It hit Harley squarely in the nose and bounced down onto his laptop.

“Does the concept of peace and quiet evade you, boy?”

“Harley.” he protested, pushing the pillow onto the ground.

“ _Boy._ ”

“Both of you, cram it.” Tony murmured. His fingers danced over a keyboard. “Give me some of that, would you?”

Harley tossed him one a bottle of soda and Tony twisted it open with ease. He was tired, but getting ahold of JARVIS’ private servers was a priority. He didn’t particularly trust the phone line. If SHIELD really was after him it was likely they had bugged out all his systems. There was no point in taking the risk.

“Don’t believe everything you read, kid. Books are like the internet.” Tony advised.

“But _they’re_ real. Why can’t the stories about them be real?”

“It’s like a crappy tabloid. The people are real, the stories are shit. You think everything you’ve read about me is true?”

“I guess not.”

“Good. Now shut up.”

Harley rolled his eyes like any teenager should. Loki sighed, leaning his head back against the couch. He had his jacket draped over him like a blanket. Sleep was fast approaching, despite his every instinct to stay awake. The effects of the Aether could not be avoided forever.

After a few more moments of breaking through the security of his own company’s website - Harley’s internet was dreadfully slow - Tony was rewarded with a quiet hum through the speakers.

 _“Scans unavailable.”_ JARVIS’ voice reported. It was the monotone, default setting - the bland version of Tony’s favorite AI. _“Voice verification active. Please state your name and passphrase.”_

“Tony Stark. Five-Seven-Juliet-Merryweather.”

There was a pause. Tony held his breath - he didn’t know why, it was his server - and then there was a soft ding.

_“Welcome back, Sir. It’s been approximately fifty-six days since you last made contact.”_

“Missed you, too.” Tony smiled and leaned back in his chair.

“Hey, Jarvis!”

_“Why hello, Mr. Keener. How nice to hear from you again.”_

Loki made a quiet noise in his rest.

_“And you as well, Mr. Laufeyson.”_

If Loki heard him, he ignored the greeting. Tony leaned forward again, digging through the interface and discarding the logged information he didn’t need.

“Got a report for me?”

_“Unfortunately, Sir, nothing of particular interest has happened beyond these last twenty-four hours. Speculations of your previous whereabouts are likely irrelevant.”_

“How’s Pepper?”

_“Her status is indicated as ‘away.’ Would you like me to contact her?”_

“No, let her sleep.” Tony murmured. “SHIELD ambushed me. Get in there and find out why.”

_“My abilities are somewhat limited on this server.”_

“Do your best. Run diagnostics on all everything while you’re at it. Servers, phones, networks... And I swear to God, if I hear the word ‘rogue’ come out of your mouth-”

_“You effectively erased Protocol Rogue some time ago, Sir. I have no intention of narking on you.”_

“Did you just say ‘ _narking_ ’?”

“What about your suits?” Harley piped in. “Can he send one?”

Tony shook his head, promptly forgetting about JARVIS’ word choice.

“They’ll be looking for that. It’ll give us away.”

“I told you to put retro-”

“Retroreflective panels? Stealth mode? Yeah, kid, kinda busy saving the world. Workin’ on a deadline, no time for the bells and whistles.”

“Fine.” Harley huffed. He shook out his hair, thinking. “You know, it doesn’t have to look like _you_. What about Iron Patri-?”

“War Machine.”

Tony blinked. His correction had been instinctual, but the kid had a point. How the hell was a twelve year old out-smarting him?  

“It doesn’t have to be me. Good on you, kid. Jarv, where’s he?”

_“Washington D.C., Sir. Shall I dispatch him to your coordinates?”_

“No, they’ll see through that and Rhodes will freak. We’ll go to them.”

“Shall we?” Loki murmured.

“Tomorrow, yeah.” Tony decided. “Until then, sleep. You too, kid.”

Loki hummed his agreement. Tony stood up away from the computer, moving over to the couch. Its occupier moved to make room for him and he settled into the cushions with a sigh.

“Harley.” Tony emphasized. “Bed.”

The boy huffed, but he shut his laptop and tucked it underneath his arm as he stood up. He moved to leave.

“What do I need tomorrow?” Tony called after him.

“Cheeseburgers.” Harley called back, likely rolling his eyes. “And a shower.”

The door to the house shut. Loki chuckled at the insult Harley had flung and relaxed. Tony shook his head and took the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch, covering his legs with it.

“Jarvis?”

_“Yes, Sir?”_

“Wake me up when you’re done.”

_“As you say. Sleep well, Sir.”_

* * *

There was clinking of plates on cheap furniture. Tony stirred in his sleep, adjusting fractionally against the body next to him. A hand pressed lightly against his chest. He exhaled.

“Why did you… y’know, do what you did?”

Harley’s voice. Loki’s smell. Organic, metallic - like a fight in the rain.

Loki gave a thoughtful hum in response to the question. Tony remained hovering in the realm between sleep and consciousness, slowly coming to know his position. They were sprawled out longways on the couch. His back was tucked into Loki’s side and he lay balanced on the edge of the cushions. The hand on his chest kept him from rolling onto the floor.

“You’ll have to be more specific.” Loki challenged.

There was a creaking of a chair as Harley sat down.

“New York.”

This wasn’t specific enough. Loki waited for elaboration.

“...The first time. With the cube.”

Loki’s fingers idly skated across the arc reactor.

“I have no answer for you.”

“But you do have one.” Harley insisted.

“Do I?”

“You gotta have a reason. Everyone's got one.”

"Ah." he smiled. “Indeed. Then tell me why you’ve asked.”

“That’s not-”

“No, but it’s far more interesting.”

“I asked first.”

“Then I decline to answer.”

They lapsed into silence. Tony began to drift back towards unconsciousness. Loki’s fingers circled over the top of the arc reactor, placing a soft pressure above Tony’s heart. The attention was somewhere between soothing and dangerous.

He had almost fallen asleep again when Harley caved.

“You never said why you came here. You just... did.”

“That bothers you.”

“Bad guys usually gotta motive.”

“I see. You’re looking for the story.”

“I guess.”

“You’ll find that the story is irrelevant. But I will tell you this.” His fingers fell lax, brushing over the seam of the arc reactor and skin. Tony felt him straighten up and lean forward. “I only ever act in my own interest.”

He was grandstanding. This was a performance. Even though his tone was quiet, he was clearly toying with the boy. Maybe he wanted to be feared or maybe he was just appealing to Harley’s expectations - living up to the image that Earth had of him. Tony wasn’t sure.

“Then… something’s wrong with you?”

Blue skin, red eyes, raised lines and ice. Tony tried to keep his breathing steady. Loki tensed.

“Some would say.”

“What happened?”

“I was born a monster.”

Harley’s chair creaked. Tony wondered if Loki really believed himself.

“No one’s born a monster.”

“Do you believe that?”

“Yeah.” he said, semi-confident. “You’re only mean if someone’s mean to you.”

Loki fell silent again. Harley continued after a brief pause.

“Were we mean to you? Us, I mean. Earth. The Avengers?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“You - this realm - mattered to someone.”

“Someone who was mean?”

“...Perhaps.”

“Oh.”

Harley thought on this through the silence.

“Then you’re not all bad.” he decided. “Just… sometimes. Tony said you saved the city, too.”

“‘Bad’ is subjective.” Loki settled back into the couch. His palm pressed flat against Tony’s chest. “I act only in my own interest. It is left to you to judge the worth of my actions.”

“You killed people. How is that not-?”

“So did he. Arguably a far greater number than I ever achieved.”

It was Tony’s turn to tense. Loki’s hand pressed down in response, staying his anxiety.

“He’s Iron Man.” Harley argued. “He doesn’t make weapons anymore.”

“What is the suit, then? A toy?” Loki shook his head. “He stopped making weapons for others and made the best for himself. He acts in his own interests. They just happen to align with yours.”

Harley was quiet. Loki hummed. His hand slipped beneath the fabric of Tony’s shirt, cool skin pressing softly on his ribcage.

“Do you understand now, Harley?”

A cold sensation crept its way into Tony’s bones. Harley’s response was lost to the abyss as he felt himself being lulled into sleep, his senses dulled and his mind heavy. Before he could even think the word ‘magic,’ sleep had claimed him.


	7. Chapter 7

_ “Sir?” _

There was the soft ping of a computer, followed by the sound of ocean waves. Tony breathed in deep and groaned. Morning. Great.

_ “Sir?” _ JARVIS prompted again.

“M’kay, geez…” Tony slung his arm over his eyes. He did his very best to ignore his alarm. “Five more minutes.”

He listened to the sound of the ocean, waves lapping back and forth against the rocks that held up his home. He tried to match his breathing and go back to sleep, but there was something wrong. There was something - someone? - pressed up against his back. His neck was stiff. His arm hurt. The waves sounded too far away and JARVIS wasn’t opening up all the windows to force him awake.

“Stark.” Loki’s breath was hot against the back of his neck. “Wake up.”

Tony blinked away the sleep in his eyes and realized he wasn’t at home in Malibu. JARVIS was playing ocean ambiance through the speakers. It was Loki pressed up against him - or rather, wedged between Tony and the back of the couch - and they were in the middle of Harley’s garage. It was cold.

“Shit.”

Loki’s hand fell away from his chest as Tony carelessly rolled himself onto the floor, freeing himself from the limbs he had been tangled in. He lay on the cement for a long moment and stared at the ceiling, absently rubbing at the bandage on his arm.

_ “Good morning, Sir.” _

“Morning, J.” Tony wiped the sleep out of the corners of his eyes as he sat up. “What’ya got for me?”

_ “The diagnostic revealed nothing that I couldn’t handle.” _

“Had your morning coffee, then?”

Loki remained on the couch, his head on the armrest as he, too, struggled to face the morning.

“The sun’s not up yet, Jarvis. You better have a good reason for waking our asses up.”

_ “It is 3:07pm. The weather forecast for Rose Hill, Tennessee predicts snow throughout the day.” _

“Oh.” Tony shook his head. “Nevermind, then.”

No wonder it was so cold. Tony stood up and stole the blanket off the couch, wrapping himself in it and depositing himself on the chair in front of the computer. Loki muttered a quiet curse at him.

“Start talking, bud.”

_ “I’ve made multiple attempts to contact and locate our friends, but no one has been forthcoming.” _

“Yeah?”

_ “Steve Rogers and Agent Romanoff are currently in the Washington, D.C. area, but I cannot pinpoint their exact location. They aren’t responding to emergency calls from yourself or anyone else. SHIELD has no reports indicating that they are on a mission.” _

“What else does SHIELD say?”

_ “Director Fury was attacked yesterday by an unknown assailant.” _

Tony’s eyebrows shot up as JARVIS opened security camera footage of a street battle. There was an overturned SUV and a man in black darting out of frame; the vehicle was on fire and bullet-riddled.

“And?”

_ “Records indicate he left surgery a few hours ago. No official result has been submitted, but the hospital is the last known location of Mr. Rogers and Ms. Romanoff.” _

Tony heard Loki stand. His curiosity brought him near, leaning in and over Tony’s shoulder to share JARVIS’ report.

“Foul play?” Loki almost sounded hopeful.

_ “There’s nothing indicating that, but I imagine there wouldn’t be.” _

Tony sighed.

“Where is everyone else, then? Do they know?”

_ “I’ve located Dr. Banner. He’s currently in the Avengers Tower in New York City. Agent Barton is currently off the grid; he hasn’t been accounted for in the last month.” _

“What of Thor?” Loki wondered.

_ “SHIELD has not attempted to contact Asgard.” _

“Pepper? Rhodes?” Tony pressed on.

_ “Ms. Potts is currently at Stark Industries in California. Colonel Rhodes is in a military facility in D.C. As it stands, the armed forces remain uninvolved. But, Sir…” _

“Spit it out.”

_ “SHIELD has issued a protective detail for Margaret Carter.” _

“Peg-?”

“Tony!”

The side door to the garage flung open. Harley ran in, dropping a fast food bag on the table as he began tearing off his winter wear as quickly as he could. He grabbed a remote and turned on an old television. It hummed to life as a newscast faded into vision on the screen.

“Tony, look!”

“-update our previous reports: Captain America has been declared a fugitive of SHIELD.”

Tony blanched. Loki laughed.

“At approximately 6:30 this morning, Director Nick Fury of SHIELD was pronounced dead after sustaining a bullet wound.” Christine Everheart reported, her pale expression betraying her monotone report. “Captain Rogers is reported to have information involving his assassination and is refusing to cooperate with law enforcement. Secretary of Defense, Alexander Pierce, has issued a statement asking the public to not engage with Captain Rogers and report any sightings. He hopes that this issue will meet a peaceful resolution. Anyone working with Captain America…”

“Jesus.” Tony cursed.

Fury was dead. Was it really that cut-and-dry?

_ “Sir-” _

“I know, JARVIS.”

_ “Sir, you have also just been declared a fugitive by the United States Government, in conjunction with SHIELD.” _

“What?”

“...we’re receiving reports that Tony Stark - Iron Man - has also been declared a fugitive.” Everheart continued, her finger pressed into her ear piece. “He is suspected to be working with Captain Rogers. With that… footage has been leaked online of Mr. Stark aiding and abetting a known criminal - Loki, of Asgard...”

The network cut to footage from the car chase in New Mexico, obviously filmed from the helicopter that had been on their tail. The audio was garbled and lost to the wind (or made to seem that way) and the video quality was poor. But it was clear that Loki had taken out the police car behind them and they were failing to respond to orders from the helicopter. It was enough to be incriminating.

“Then your precious SHIELD is up to something quite nefarious.” Loki decided, a slight smile on his lips. “How interesting.”

He paced passed Harley - brushing a chunk of snow out of the boy’s hair as he did so - and made his way back to the couch. He collected his jacket and pulled it back on, watching Tony.

“JARVIS, I want answers.”

“Is Captain America really a fugitive?” Harley muted the television, rounding on Loki. “Why would he keep information about Fury’s death? What’s he hiding? Who’s the assassin, anyway? It wasn’t you, you were here. Is there anyone else who…”

The questions continued. They were met with a mildly perplexed expression and silence. Tony tuned it out.

_ “Your access to SHIELD’s network has been revoked.” _

“Don’t waste my time.”

_ “One moment.” _

“...You’ve gotta know,” Harley was saying. Loki continued to stare him down, but intimidation wasn’t shutting him up. “I mean, you’re like, super smart, right? A super villain? Don’t you guys talk? Who wanted to kill Fury? It doesn’t…”

_ “Sir, I’ve gained access to Director Fury’s personal desktop. It has yet to be tampered with, but someone is attempting access.” _

“And?”

_ “It appears that he suspected someone was after him.”  _ Files began to pop up on the computer as they were downloaded and transferred, albeit slowly.  _ “He did extensive research on the subject of the Winter Soldier, which appears to be an enigma within the undercover community. He also attempted to access records on Ms. Romanoff, however-” _

“That’s a dead end.” Tony would know.

_ “-Yes. But he recently sent Ms. Potts some information regarding Mr. Howard Stark’s storage facilities in Washington. For archival and inventory purposes, the e-mail claims.” _

“That’s already done. Has been for years.”

_ “Indeed.” _

Tony picked up a pen and scratched down a note on a nearby piece of paper. It looked like Harley’s schoolwork.

“What else?”

New headlines opened on the computer: Natasha and Maria Hill were now fugitives; Stark Industries was not commenting on his actions; in the interest of public safety, law enforcement was advising that everyone stay away from the Avengers Tower; Asgard had not been reached for comment.

_ “I recommend you find somewhere to lay low.” _

“I thought you knew me better than that.” Tony spun around in his chair, looking to the other two in the room. “Get me a route to D.C. and make a copy of Fury’s computer before they fry it. Private servers.”

_ “Yes, Sir.” _

“Enough.” Loki declared, still focused on Harley. “You may call me a villain, but that does not mean I spend my time with Midgardian criminals. I have no reason to.”

Harley scuffed his foot in the floor. “...Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to him.” Tony stood up and let the blanket fall off his shoulders. He pocketed his borrowed cellphone and the paper he had written on. “All right, kid, we gotta roll out.”

“Cheeseburgers.” Harley pointed to the paper bag on the table. “And, no. Where are you going?”

“D.C. Where else?” He rifled through the bag and pulled out the contents, tossing one to Loki and the other to Harley. He unwrapped the paper around his sandwich. “Gotta go save the world again.”

Harley sighed and sat down on the couch, looking at them both. He was nervous.

“Speak your mind, boy.” Loki prompted. He was inspecting his meal, not entirely sure what to make of it. He took a bite and despite the displeased face he made, he didn’t discard it.

“If Nick Fury’s really dead, and there’s really something wrong with SHIELD… What’s gonna happen? I mean, if you’re all fugitives-”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out.” Tony assured him. “Even if it means taking down SHIELD.”

“I’ll hold you to your word.” Loki promised.

“Yeah, whatever.”

Tony moved around the couch and ruffled Harley’s hair as he passed, eyeing the car that was parked near the garage door. The first time he’d been here, the poor thing had been a hood-up, broken-down clunker. He’d fixed it for Harley after the Mandarin incident.

He finished his burger and crumpled up the wrapper, tossing it at Loki’s head. It bounced off his temple and earned Tony an annoyed look.

“C’mon. It’s eight hours from here to D.C. on a good day.”

“Wait, you’re taking my car?” Harley asked, standing up in protest.

“Uh, who fixed your car again?” Tony asked, popping open the driver door. He sat down and grabbed the keys out of the glove box. “I think it was me. Not like you’re driving it, pipsqueak.”

“Bullshit.”

Loki chuckled as he moved around to the passenger’s side, sliding in the car with ease. Tony shut his door and turned the key in the ignition. The engine growled to life with a satisfied purr.

“Listen, you,” Tony rolled down the window as Harley came up to protest. “I need cash for gas. Open the garage door.”

“I don’t have money.” Harley lied.

“Then steal it from your mom’s purse.”

“ _ No. _ Let me come with you.”

“We did this last time. You stay here. Keep JARVIS running and call me if anything happens.”

“It’s my car.”

“It’s too dangerous for you.”

“You don’t have any money.”

“Neither do you, apparently.”

“ _ He’s _ going.”

“You really want me to leave him behind?”

Harley sighed and crossed his arms, frustrated. He didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Your heroes have been vilified.” Loki said, leaning towards the driver’s window. “Today is not the day for your glory. Let them fight their battles.”

He blinked in surprise, glancing away. He bit his lip.

“I can help.”

“You could die.”

“Help from here.” Tony offered, “You did good. You always do. Keep doing it, but do it here.”

The teen opened his mouth to protest once more, but he was cut off.

“Harley.” Loki insisted.

With a frustrated huff, Harley would open the garage door for them. He walked alongside the car as Tony backed it out into the driveway, shoving his hands in his pockets to pull out a few crumpled bills to hand over.

“You trust him, don’t you?” Harley asked, crossing his arms as the snow fell down on them. Tony tossed the cash on the dashboard. “Why?”

Tony looked up from the mirrors, examining Harley’s expression. He felt Loki’s attention on him.

“...Listen, kid. Things get complicated when you start sleeping with people.”

Harley’s eyes got wide and Tony gave him his signature smile.

“Stay safe, Motorbike. You’ve got yourself an I.O.U.”

He pulled out onto the street and shifted the car into drive, revving the engine. Harley blinked and then they were speeding off down the road, Tony’s arm hanging out the window as he waved goodbye.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony turned up the radio. Loki stared out the passenger window.

Despite the rhythmic pounding of the stereo, it was terribly quiet in the car.

Tony shook his head and fished his cell phone out of his pocket, tossing it up on the dashboard with the cash Harley had loaned them. Loki’s eyes flicked towards the sound, but they idly returned to the road afterwards.

What was there to say now that they were alone? Two years stretched between them like a chasm, filled with lost time and stale questions. The last time they had been alone together had been in Malibu. Before Amora’s attack, after plans and Infinity Stones. Everything had turned a special shade of grey that night.

Fraternizing with the enemy, Tony remembered. If there was anything people could expect from him, it was that he would pleasure himself. Right?

“What dangers led to you to Asgard?”

Loki’s voice scared Tony straight out of his thoughts. He blinked and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

“What?”

“Heimdall said the danger had passed.” Loki reminded, patient. “What danger?”

“Oh, y’know. More Asgardian girls.”

“Oh?” Loki looked to him, resting his head back against the seat. “It certainly couldn’t have been Amora.”

“Why?” Tony pried, “What happened to her?”

“You first.”

It wouldn’t be that easy to blow by Loki’s questions. He kept his eyes on the road as he gathered his thoughts.

“There was an explosion in Central Park. Your run of the mill asshole, we thought. Assembled to deal with it. But time…” his mouth tightened, twisting into a frown as he tried to convince himself of the truth, “...stopped.”

“Time stopped?”

“Yeah. Just… stopped. Nothing.” Tony merged into a slower lane to overtake a car in his way, pointedly choosing not to look at Loki. “Some girl showed up on my balcony to say hello.”

Loki waited for him to continue.

“...Black hair, purple toga. Prettier than Thor, but don’t tell him I said that. Green eyes, too. What’s with all the green, anyway? Is all magic green? I don’t-”

“Stark.”

“Fine.” Tony blinked hard. “She said her name was Hela.”

The atmosphere in the car took an abrupt downturn.

“Hela.” Loki repeated, his voice low. “If you jest, Stark-”

“She said she knew you.” Tony barreled on. “Said you were between realms. Something about her hall? She was half a skeleton, for Christ’s sake. She tried to touch me-”

“And Heimdall intervened.” Loki realized. He pinched the bridge of his nose, effectively hiding his expression.

“She told me to find you.” His tone was almost accusatory. He peeled into the fast lane again, traveling far over the speed limit. “Who is she, Loki?”

Loki’s interest seemed to have waned quite suddenly. His hand fell and he turned his eyes to the window, fingers skating over the door interior. He was tense.

“Hela, or simply Hel, of Nifelheim.” He answered, steady and slow. “The goddess of death, in simplest of terms. Daughter of sorcerers.”

“You pals with death gods, now?”

Loki chuckled, but the sound was humorless and dry.

“She was Asgardian, once. A child on the cusp of womanhood.” he continued, his tone hardening. “A prophecy told that she and her brothers would begin the end of all things. So Odin tore them from their home and cast them out in his fear. But he took pity on her. She was beautiful, young, frightened. So when he cast her out she was given a title and a home.”

Tony’s annoyance faded. He checked his speed and stared forward, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel.

“...You knew her?”

“One could say.”

Loki was stiff. Tony could feel how thin the ice was and wisely changed the conversation.

“What about Amora?”

Loki exhaled. “Bartered away for information.”

“Is she alive?”

“Not in the physical sense.”

Again, Tony felt he shouldn’t pry for the sake of his own sanity. Loki was examining his nails, feigning boredom. But he was the one to ask the next question.

“What transpired in my absence? Did your cities rebuild?”

Tony launched into his story. He talked until he couldn’t talk anymore, going on and on about the Mandarin and city relief funds. He delved deep into Extremis and Pepper’s virus, probably getting too technical for comprehension. But by this point Loki had eased. He punctuated Tony’s recollection with pointed questions, engaging him to avoid talking about his own life and Asgard. They were both grateful for the distraction.

But, eventually, the conversation turned back around.

“Yes. Queen Frigga..." Loki paused, correcting himself. "My mother died.”

Tony adjusted his sunglasses against the setting sun.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Loki leaned his head back, lacing his fingers in his hair. He closed his eyes and nodded.

“As was I.” he agreed. “But it is done.”

“And the Aether?”

“Safely kept away from me.” He opened his eyes. “But within reach.”

“If anyone knows anything about substance abuse problems, it’s me, but-”

“Fret not. I have no ill intentions.” Loki dismissed. He blinked as Tony pulled into a gas station. “Do you require rest?”

“I’ll be fine. Need to fill ‘er up.” Tony pulled up to the pump and grabbed the wadded cash on the dashboard, flattening it out. “Stay put, Magic Man. I’ll be back soon.”

Loki nodded and Tony got out of the car, popping open the gas cap before making his way into the station to pay. When he emerged - escaping unrecognized and fan-free - he saw Loki leaning against the car with the nozzle already inserted in the tank.

“You know what you’re doing?”

Loki gave him a sidelong glance and gestured idly to another car down the line.

“Watch and learn.” he offered. “Shall I drive as well? Half the trek is past.”

Tony glanced at the gas selection and shook his head, adjusting his sunglasses.

“I drive.”

“Still don’t trust me?”

“Wipe that smirk off your face. My chauffer doesn't drive me.”

“Ah. Your issues are more generalized, then.”

Tony rolled his eyes and popped the nozzle out of the car, returning it to its designated place at the pump. He leaned against the trunk of the car.

“Call it childhood trauma. Who says you know how to drive, anyway?”

“Shifting gears and pedals are hardly Midgard’s strangest craft. I find myself capable.”

“And if we crash and burn?”

But Loki was already sliding in the driver’s seat, willfully ignoring him.

“Your phone rings.” he announced instead. “The Lady Pepper, I assume.”

Tony rounded the car with little protest, distracted well enough for the moment. He popped open the passenger door and slid in, fumbling for the phone on the dashboard. The ringtone was something God-awful.

“Pep’?”

_“Mr. Stark, you’ll be the death of me.”_

“Missed you too, hon’. How’d you get this number?”

 _“Where are you, Tony? Where were you?_ ” Pepper sounded tired. But it went deeper than just needing more sleep.

“Then? Asgard.” Loki started up the car and Tony glanced at him, holding onto the door handle. “Now, somewhere between Tennessee and D.C.”

There was an extended silence that made his stomach turn.

“ _Asgard?”_ She said the word very precisely.

“It wasn’t like I had a choice.” he argued, itching under her scrutiny.

 _“For_ two _months? With no word?!”_

“The Bifrost has been known to displace time.” Loki offered, loud enough to be heard. “Stark spent no more than half a day in the palace.”

There was another pause. An awkward, tense moment and then a very, very long sigh.

_“Hello, Loki.”_

“She says ‘hi.’” Tony relayed, and then, “What? Been avoiding the news? I thought you liked him.”

Loki was smirking. He revved the engine as he merged onto the highway, flawlessly switching gears. Tony gripped his seat with his free hand. When Pepper didn’t respond, he kept talking.

“Listen, Pepper, I know. I know you’re mad. I know if it’s not one thing, it’s another and it never stops, but it’s a _thing_ now. I can’t just look away.”

_“I know.”_

“I’m sorry.”

_“I know.”_

Tony heard her sigh and he leaned his head back, putting his hand over his eyes and closing them. Loki weaved through traffic at an alarmingly efficient pace.

 _“Why are you going to D.C?”_ She finally asked, sounding a little more collected. _“This is Steve’s fight. Let him handle it.”_

“SHIELD came after me, too.”

_“They’ve been doing that for years.”_

“Yeah, but Phil didn’t point guns at me.”

She laughed and he smiled, shaking his head.

“We’re going to Rhodes.” he explained, “I can’t exactly fly around in my suit right now without people trying to shoot me down, but War Machine can.”

_“Rhodey is legally required to arrest you, Tony.”_

“I never said he was going to help.”

Tony could feel her judgement through the phone.

_“You’re going to steal from the United States Government?”_

“Hey, that’s my property. They stole it first.”

_“You let them.”_

“So?”

Loki snorted softly as Pepper sighed.

_“Just don’t get him in trouble.”_

“That’s the plan.”

He scratched at the seam of the arc reactor through his shirt.

 _“All right.”_ Pepper sighed. _“Do what you need to do. But, Tony…”_

“Hm?”

_“Come home.”_

He smiled a little. “I promise.”

_“You’re not missing surgery again.”_

His smile faded and he groaned.

“You’re not my mother.”

_“No, but you’re the one who scheduled it. Yourself. Like an adult.”_

“I deny that.”

 _“What about Thor?”_ She breezed through his commentary with practiced ease. _“Can he help?”_

“I would advise against it.” Loki interjected.

“How good is your hearing?” Tony managed to sound accusatory, despite turning on the speakerphone. “Eavesdropping is rude.”

Loki ignored him just as easily as Pepper had.

“Thor is in Asgard, likely staying Odin’s hand from sending warriors after us. Tony has again found himself a criminal in the eye of his justice.”

_“Wonderful.”_

“Indeed.”

“Do you think I’m still number ten on SHIELD’s most wanted list?” Tony wondered.

He could hear the hum of JARVIS’ voice in the background of Pepper’s call.

_“Jarvis says you’re number three, now, and Loki’s four.”_

Loki expression was outright offended. “I’ve been demoted? For the sake of _you_?”

“Well, look at that. Jealousy _is_ green.”

 _“Boys._ ” Pepper chided. _“Now is not the time.”_

“No, now’s the time to drive.” Tony agreed. “Pep’, get some sleep. We’ll handle it.”

She sighed again and he thought he could hear her nod.

 _“Come home, Tony.”_ A pause, and then. _“You too, Loki.”_

“Be well.” Loki acknowledged, and then Tony nodded.

“I will, Pepper. Stay safe.”

_“I will.”_

Tony cut the call and tossed the phone back up on the dashboard. He settled back into his seat, too distracted with the task at hand to care about someone else driving him.

“So…” Loki began. “What do you propose?”

* * *

It started with a speeding ticket.

Or, rather, the threat of a speeding ticket and a trail of six police cars and two helicopters.

Colonel Rhodes stared blankly at the television as he watched his friend recklessly drive through the city like a bat out of hell. His commanding officer stood nearby, watching him, and spoke when he felt the silence had gone on too long.

“Colonel, what do you know about this?”

“Nothing, sir.” Rhodey crossed his arms as the cameras zoomed in on Tony’s face, which was deceptively blank in the driver’s seat.

If anyone knew Tony Stark, it was James Rhodes. They went back over twenty years; that was even longer than Pepper had known Tony. They’d been together through college, deserts, suits, and fights. Sometimes spending time together was bad for their friendship, but they always teamed up in the end.

But Rhodey had never, _never_ seen Tony drive this recklessly since 1991.

“We have him in custody.”

Rhodey turned from the television, doing his best to keep a neutral expression. But his brows had drawn down and together, twitching between suspicion and surprise.

“How?”

“He made it easy.” The General pointed back to the television. “Ran straight through the gates.”

He looked back and saw the recording of what had been described. Tony barreling through security checkpoints, dodging and bouncing bullets off the car as he rammed through traffic stops. When the wheels shredded he drifted into a stop seconds before hitting a wall; soldiers surrounded him and he stepped out of the car with his hands raised, smiling.

“He was alone?”

“Yes.”

“...You want me to talk to him.” Rhodey guessed.

“Yes, Colonel. We’ve tried everything else.”

He nodded and let his arms fall to his sides. He wore only black sweats and a grey t-shirt, just like the man beside him. There was no time to jump into a uniform when alarms went off at five in the morning.

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

Something was wrong about this, but Rhodey felt it was only a matter of time before he found out why.

Fifteen minutes later he entered the interrogation room, ready for anything his best friend was about to throw at him.

“Hey, Rhodey.”

Tony had been seated in a simple wooden chair, his hands cuffed to a anchored point in the middle of the table. Everything had been removed from the room except for the cameras and another matching chair on the opposite side of the table. It appeared they had taken out everything that even hinted at technology, as if Tony could conjure a suit through a scrap of metal and will power alone.

“Hey, man.”

Rhodey sat down in the empty chair, crossing his arms again and leaning back. The two men stared at each other in silence for a while. Tony had a bullet graze across one cheek. His hair was a mess and his three-piece suit was down to two, the jacket long gone. The white of his shirtsleeve was stained with blood and bandaged haphazardly.

“You look like crap.”

Tony laughed.

“Yeah. Shit happens.”

“Been awhile since you let anybody get to you.” Rhodey commented, leaning forward to put his elbows on the table. “What’s up? Why you runnin’?”

“I thought I was driving.”

“Yeah, like an asshole.” He put some emphasis in those words and Tony’s eyes flicked up to him. “What’s got into you?”

Tony smiled. But it didn’t look right, somehow - it was a little too crooked, a little less charming.

“Does it matter?”

“Where’s Captain America?” Rhodey tried.

“Don’t know.”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“He trusts you.”

Rhodey blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, faltered, and then tried again.

“What does Steve trusting me have anything to do with this?”

“They thought I’d talk to you.” Tony guessed, blowing through his question. “Cooperation? Do they know me?”

“No. I do.”

“Then you know it’s no good.”

“Yeah.” Rhodey said. “And I know you’re as stubborn as they come, but c’mon, man. You’re smarter than this. Why’d you come here? Listen…” He leaned forward, trying his best to get through to him. “Turn yourself in. We can handle this. You’ve got the lawyers and the money - you know the game. Just give us something. Anything on Rogers. He’s gone AWOL and that scares people, Tony. Ya’ll might be heroes, but people like the word ‘vigilante,’ too. You can’t just stomp on Pierce’s toes and get away with it. I swear to God-”

“Oh, there’s no reason to swear to me.”

Rhodey stared into the green of Tony’s eyes and his speech shriveled up and died on his tongue. Tony picked dirt out from underneath his fingernails.

“Listen to me, James Rhodes,” Loki advised, his voice whispering through Tony’s lips. “This is beyond you and your mortal armies. If you wish to save lives, keep to your own business. Keep this…” He paused to find a proper word. “...’acquisition’ quiet as best you can, or you’ll endanger him.”

There was a knock on the door. The handle turned and it opened momentarily before there was a flash of green and it slammed shut. Someone bodily rammed themselves up against the door and Rhodey blinked.

Tony was gone. Loki sat across from him in Tony's clothes and the handcuffs lay broken between them. His eyes flicked up from his nails as alarms sounded throughout the compound.

“I’ve made an oath not to kill anyone.” Loki stood. Rhodey shot up as well, pacing in the opposite direction around the table, but Loki followed. “‘Knock them out,’ Stark said, ‘Don’t hurt anyone or I’ll kill you.’ He had the gall to threaten me, Colonel. Can you imagine?”

Loki approached him, slowly closing the distance between them as Rhodey found himself pressed into a corner. He tried his best to keep his cool.

“You’re working together?”

“Indeed. But he has a certain… _naivety_ concerning matters as delicate as this. I assure you, he had nothing to do with what is about to happen.” He stopped short a foot away, twirling a dagger in his fingers. The metal glinted off the light. “So, Colonel Rhodes, it seems we find ourselves at an impasse. You cannot simply set me free without suffering the wrath of your superiors.”

“They’ll see it’s you, now. You could just go.”

“I could, but what would that say of you? Treason is a nasty thing.”

“Oh.”

The lights went out. The two men stood alone in the dark and Rhodey’s heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest.

“So,” Loki drawled, “I fear I must live up to my reputation...”

He leaned in and there was a white-hot pain in Rhodey’s stomach, blooming around the edges of a dagger.

“...I do hope you understand.”

He felt the knife slide out of him and he crumpled to the ground, grasping at the wound. His eyes never left the black silhouette in the dark.

“You’ll be fine.” Loki had the audacity to sound comforting as he stepped away. “Tell them I overtook you. You’ll remain blameless in this.”

There was a clattering of metal as Loki dropped his dagger on the ground. Rhodey gasped as blood seeped out between his fingers. He couldn't feel anything; shock was settling in. He needed medical attention, but all he could think about was Tony.

“Why are you guys here?”

There was the sound of gunshots outside. War Machine was flying away.

Soldiers and officers spilled into the room as the door swung open.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

And then Loki was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Rose Hill, Tennessee - Keener Garage**

Harley sat at his computer, focused intently on the screen.

 _“Take cover - the next building on your left,”_ JARVIS offered. _“Enemies approaching on your six.”_

Harley’s game avatar - lovingly dubbed the “Starkinator” - dove to the left after a few meaningful keystrokes and rolled out of the way of incoming fire.

_“A rocket launcher may not be the best option-”_

“I’m the last one alive!” Harley insisted, “We’re going to lose. If I’m going out, I’m going out with a bang!”

_“Said like a true Stark, Mr. Keener.”_

The Starkinator and a number of his enemies would expire in a blaze of glory. A tattered flag faded onto screen as the explosion played out in slow motion behind the text ‘YOU LOSE.’

Harley sighed and unplugged his headphones, leaning back in his chair. He clicked out of the game and the wavelengths of JARVIS’ voice became the main display, bordered with other windows featuring Stark Industries’ website and an array of information he couldn’t decipher.

_“You fought valiantly.”_

Harley shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich, clicking on one of the windows that had an Iron Man display on it.

“Did he get a suit yet?”

_“He acquired War Machine recently, yes. Mr. Stark sends his regards.”_

Harley rolled his eyes. “No he doesn’t.”

_“No, but he will.”_

JARVIS started up one of Tony’s music playlists, sensing that the conversation was at its end, and Harley pulled his headphones down to hang around his neck. His fingers idly drummed along to the songs as he stared at the live rendering of War Machine. He imagined Tony streaking through the sky in it and his thoughts wandered back to his visit.

Tony Stark and Loki, of Asgard, were sleeping together. Harley wasn’t an idiot - he knew enough to know something, and he knew Tony was right about complications. But what did that mean? Was Iron Man a bad guy, now? Or was Loki a good guy?

 _“I act in my own interests.”_ Loki had said, and, _“He acts in his own interests… Do you understand now, Harley?”_

Tony wasn’t a bad guy. Harley couldn’t believe that. He had grown up with Iron Man flying through the skies on television, saving people, doing good things, and using his wealth to make the world a better place. Iron Man had saved him, too.

He picked up Loki’s dagger off the table and rolled the hilt in his hands, watching the light bounce off the blade. It seemed to gleam green.

“Jarvis, I want to help.”

He wanted to act in his own interests. Which were theirs, ultimately, but they were still his.

_“You are helping.”_

“No, I’m not. I’m sitting here playing video games with you.”

_“It’s quite refreshing, actually. Mr. Stark doesn’t spend his time on anything but his personal simulators-”_

“Jarvis.”

_“Yes, Mr. Keener?”_

“I want to help.”

If an A.I. could sigh, now would probably be the time to hear it. However, JARVIS remained in simple silence, a hum substituting his voice on the speakers to indicate processes. Tony’s music faded.

 _“Mr. Stark is currently operating ‘blind.’ War Machine is equipped with an emergency version of myself, but it is… limited in its abilities, due to the redundancies in place to prevent unauthorized changes or operation. Modification, infiltration, infection; we were overly cautious when preparing the Mark III for outside use.”_ JARVIS explained. _“Perhaps you could assist in gathering information for Mr. Stark.”_

Harley leaned forward, very interested.

“How?”

 _“See if you can find information on the Avengers or Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff.”_ he advised. _“Perhaps Loki, as well, though that tends to be difficult. Mr. Stark is currently on his way to a facility he believes to be a safe house for SHIELD agents.”_

Harley nodded, already clicking open internet browsers and logging in to social media.

“I can do that.” he said, confident, “I can help, Jarvis.”

_“Yes you can, Mr. Keener. I’m at your service.”_

* * *

**Outskirts of D.C. - A Safehouse**

The sun had already risen by the time Tony landed on the outskirts of the city. He hit the ground hard, still a little off-balance in this suit. War Machine was heftier than Iron Man, which was all sleek lines and repulsors, but made up for its weight with the amount of firepower it packed. Tony could make it work. Making a clean escape was just icing on the cake.

Still, it didn’t look like today was about to be any easier than yesterday.

“Jarvis, what is this?”

The address he had pulled from Pepper’s e-mails had not lead them to the Stark Storage Facility in D.C. Tony was staring at a dam. The type that re-routed bodies of water.

_“These are the coordinates provided by Director Fury’s e-mail, Sir. I’ve triple checked their accuracy.”_

“Quadruple check.”

_“You’re in the right place.”_

Tony let out a long whistle, staring up to the top of the cement structure. At least it was inconspicuous, which couldn’t be said for any of his company buildings (old or new; Dad had good taste).

“All right. Give me an update.”

_“No incident reports have been filed with any of Colonel Rhodes’ commanding officers. All information indicates Mr. Laufeyson escaped custody. They’re keeping this off the books.”_

Tony exhaled softly, rolling his shoulders as he shook his head. He shouldn’t have worried. Even if Loki wasn’t fully back on his feet, he could handle himself.

He stepped out of the suit and let it go into stand-by, running a hand through his hair to shake out the sweat.

“What do you we have on heat signatures?” He pulled at the hem of Loki’s shirt, sighing. “Damn beanpole…”

He and Loki had switched clothes to pull off their little shell game. Loki had insisted that he use his energy sparingly, so magic wardrobes were out of the question. They had gone the practical route and discovered that, unsurprisingly, their clothes didn’t fit each other well.

Loki had remedied the issue temporarily when he had taken Tony’s form, but that left the real Tony Stark drowning in excess, heavy fabric. He was just grateful Loki hadn’t been wearing his formal armor. Even though this green v-neck looked absolutely ridiculous on him, folds of long fabric and black trousers were more comfortable than anything metal. He could even forgive the weird, sleeveless leather duster.

“Jarv’?” Tony tried again, tapping his ear piece.

_“Yes, sir?”_

“Tell me what’s going on in there.”

_“Three heat signatures, all near the center of the structure.”_

“All right. Keep me posted. And do a run down on that suit - I don’t like it when you make me wait.”

JARVIS pinged to acknowledge the command. Tony climbed up the stairs to the nearest door, rummaging through Loki’s pockets as he went. War Machine was the Mark III, which was rather old in terms of suit tech, so it couldn’t be taken apart for remote repulsor use. With the Infinity Gauntlet currently in Loki’s possession, Tony was completely unarmed.

He pushed open the door and kept his stance low, looking down both directions of the long corridor.

“Honey, I’m home!”

No one answered back. Tony’s hand found the hilt of a dagger in one of the duster’s interior pockets and he smiled a bit, relieved. He wasn’t very good with things that didn’t go ‘boom,’ but he was pretty sure he could hold his own for a while.

He walked down the corridor in silence, making his way toward the center of the dam. He hadn’t seen anyone. No employees, no cowering SHIELD agents; nothing. There was just the sound of his own footsteps.

_“Sir, you’ve received a priority-flagged e-mail from your private servers. Audio recording attached.”_

Tony paused, pressing his back up against a wall. The only way he could get an email from his private server - where things were primarily stored, not sent - was if JARVIS had decided it was important. JARVIS was sending remote-JARVIS e-mails. How sweet.

“Go for it.”

 _“Hey, Mr. Stark, Jarvis said I could help by sending you updates.”_ Harley’s voice shook in the recording, caught somewhere between a caffeine high and nervousness. _“Someone got a picture of Cap’ on top of a building with some politician guy and a dude with bird wings. Black Widow was there, too - I found a picture on Instagram from some girl’s apartment window. All of ‘em took off on a car heading towards the Triskelion. I think they kicked someone off the building at one point.”_

“Insta-?" Tony blinked, incredulous. His hand was clammy around the hilt of Loki’s dagger. "Jarvis, just- Jesus, tell me you put coordinates in that e-mail.”

_“It seems I did. But I would recommend focusing on the task at hand."_

"Steve can handle himself, I know."

_"Shall I respond to the message?”_

“Tell him he’s doing good. Keep it up. And then remind me later why I'm listening to a snot-nosed brat.”

He peeled himself off the wall and continued down the corridor, standing a little straighter now. But he hadn’t taken more than a handful of steps before he felt the barrel of a gun against the back of his head.

“Hello, Loki.” Maria Hill said. “I’d say it’s nice to see you again, but, y’know. It’s not.”

Tony rolled his eyes and leaned his head back carelessly against the gun, holding his hands up in surrender.

“‘Sup, Agent Hill?”

There was a pause between them and then the gun hammer safely popped back into place.

“Mr. Stark?”

“It’s just his clothes.” Tony said, smiling as he spun around on his heels. The flaps of Loki’s duster smacked against his calves. “It’s some weird roleplay thing of his, I tried to talk him out of it, I swear, but-”

She huffed and holstered her gun, shaking her head.

“Follow me, Mr. Stark, I don’t have much time.”

He let his rambling die as Agent Hill led him down the hallway. She pointed towards a door he had passed a little ways back, nodding with emphasis.

“He’s in there. I have to go.” She didn’t even look back at him as she double-timed it down the hall, back towards the entrance. “Behave yourself!”

Tony rolled his eyes again and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Don’t get yourself killed, Hill,” he called back. “If you don’t die, I’m hiring!”

“I’ll hold you to that!”

He smirked and shook his head, opening the door once she was gone. It swung open with a click to reveal a cement room with little decor. The first things he noticed were the medical supplies; secondly, the surprised doctor in the corner.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” a familiar voice coughed.

Tony blinked and stared at Nick Fury, tilting his head to the side.

“You’re dead.”

“So are you, I hear.”

Tony laughed. “Good point.”

* * *

When Steve, Natasha, and Bird-Wings-Guy came stumbling in with Agent Hill, Tony stood back behind the plastic walls and let them see Fury for the first time.

“About damn time,” said the Director, and the two Avengers at hand gave a sigh of relief.

Tony circled around the back of them, unnoticed, and put a hand on Natasha’s good shoulder.

“Been shot?” he asked, smiling when she startled. “Oh, did I sneak up on you? Nice. Clint would be proud. C’mon, let the doc’ look at you. I promise not to replace your heart with a car battery.”

Bird-Wings stared at him as he pushed Natasha down into a chair. Steve spun around and called his name (“Tony!” like he was surprised, or maybe suspicious) and she gave him ‘the eyebrow.’ It was a look of judgement that all the Avengers had become familiar with.

“Oh, you all saw War Machine outside, don’t give me that,” Tony insisted, “And you, ‘Tasha, nuh-uh. You’ve seen me in worse.”

“Iron Man wears dresses?” asked Bird-Man, and Tony rolled his eyes.

“Excuse me, this is Princely. And clearly has pants. Look!” He gestured to his leg. “Pants!”

“Prince ain’t ever wear nothin’ like that.”

“Who’re you again?”

Natasha gave a shaking laugh as the SHIELD doctor leaned in to tend to her.

“Boys.” Fury interrupted. “We’ve got bigger issues than Mr. Stark’s fashion choice.”

“You should see where I got it from.” Tony said, crossing his arms and leaning against one of the medical monitors. “Armani barely fit him.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s very upset.” Steve lamented, coating on the sarcasm. “Where’ve you been, Tony?”

“Oh, y’know, had to update my Asgardian passport. Then went sightseeing in New Mexico, tumbled into Tennessee again. Rumlow tried to kill me - us, actually, Loki didn’t like it very much. Just a regular weekend.”

“Did he just say Loki? And Asgard?” Bird-Man asked, looking to Steve.

“Don’t encourage him, Sam. And Rumlow’s been after us, too.”

“Everyone has.” Natasha added.

“I believe your exact words were ‘everyone you know,’” Sam offered.

“Where’s Bruce?” Tony insisted.

“At home.” she grunted, watching as the Doctor pulled the bullet out of her shoulder. “Ah- An-And he’s staying there.”

“I know. What about our main bird boy?”

“Unavailable.”

“Convenient.” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Thor?” Steve tried, hopeful.

“Let’s say he got grounded.”

Steve shook his head, looking back to Fury. Natasha was touching the edge of his bed.

“You?” she asked.

“Lacerated spinal column, snapped sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver and… oh, one hell of a headache.” Fury rattled off, sighing.

“Don’t forget your collapsed lung.” the Doctor offered.

“Oh, let’s not forget that. Otherwise, I’m good.”

“They cut you open.” Natasha insisted. “Your heart stopped.”

“Tetrodotoxin B,” Fury tried to explain, but then Tony interrupted.

“Banner. Stress reliever, pulls the pulse down.” He remembered. “Didn’t work. Mr. Green went to work on my lab instead.”

“Uh-huh.” Fury nodded. “They can’t kill ya’ if you’re already dead, right? Besides… Didn’t know who I could trust.”

The group grew quiet in mutual agreement. Tony scoffed.

“Sucks, doesn’t it? Not knowing who to trust?”

“Tony-”

“No, Steve, it’s all right. Lesson best learned the hard way.”

* * *

**Washington D.C. - A Vault**

Loki inhaled slowly, closing his eyes as he felt his magic flare in his breast. It was only temporary, but he would relish the feeling while he could.

“Your work has been a gift to mankind,” said the older man in the room, seated across from an unstable subject, “You shaped the century and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos and tomorrow morning we’re going to give it a push. But if you don’t do your part, I can’t do mine, and Hydra can’t give the world the freedom it deserves.”

A rousing speech. From what Loki had gathered, he might even agree with this organization’s charter. Their methods, however, left much to be desired. Why kill when you could subjugate? There was no fun in ruling if there was no one left to rule.

He watched from the corner of the room, hand flexing inside the Infinity Gauntlet. Without it, his magic was limited, so he used the Mind Stone to keep himself hidden in plain sight. Anyone could see him, but they promptly forgot the moment they looked away. It was a weak, ranged spell, but it was appropriate considering his crowd.

“But I knew him,” said the younger man in the chair.

The Winter Soldier, Loki mused. A powerful man bound like a puppet.

“Prep him.”

Loki rolled up the sleeves of his borrowed shirt. Tony was a significantly smaller man than he was, leaving much to be desired in the length of his clothes, but it would do. He ran his fingers through his hair as the men in the vault talked amongst themselves. The older man - the leader, Alexander Pierce - made a decision.

“Then wipe him and start over.”

As Pierce and his armed guard left the room (including Agent Rumlow, Loki recognized), the Winter Soldier was pressed back in his chair. Men of science attended to their computer screens and Loki sighed, pushing himself off the wall. He stalked around to the armed guards that had been left behind.

“Why, hello,” he whispered, placing the gauntlet on the back of one man’s neck. “How very nice to meet you.”

The Mind Stone dug its tendrils deep into the guard’s psyche and Loki inhaled sharply, welcoming this familiar power. He had prefered the practicality of the staff, but the gauntlet did well enough.

The other guards levied their weapons on him immediately. His spell was broken; he stood vulnerable and armorless, dressed only in a silk shirt and suit pants.

“I think not.” Loki warned. His thrall pointed his gun at the Winter Soldier’s head. “Lower your weapons, men.”

The Winter Soldier stared at him. He didn’t move to break free, securely restrained in his chair. But the guards didn’t falter.

“Fine.”

He shoved his guard at one of the other men, sending them sprawling. It was three on one, if he didn’t account for the scientists and the Winter Soldier. It was easy. Troublesome that he had promised not to murder anyone, perhaps, but he knew he had pressed his luck when he’d stabbed the Colonel.

It took only a few moments before Loki had disarmed the other guard and taken control of his mind. From there it was simple enough to take the third as the first two cornered him. The trio then prevented the scientists from leaving and Loki took their minds, too.

“Well.” he breathed, sitting in the chair that Pierce had occupied. “We meet at last.”

Not that Loki had actively been seeking him out. He only sought information, and this Soldier seemed ripe with it. It was impossible not to think about Harley’s commentary on villains and he smiled to himself, turning on the charm for the strange man in front of him.

“You recognized him.” Loki began, parroting the Soldier’s earlier admission. “The man on the bridge.”

The Winter Soldier blinked. He sat up as much as he could in his restraints.

“...I don’t recognize you.”

“No,” he agreed, “But you have information that I need.”

The Soldier stared at him. His metal arm worked beneath the restraints and he lifted his chin, judging the situation. Loki smirked.

“I see we understand each other.”

He stood. Both men were at disadvantages, but Loki had the good fortune of not being restrained.

“I don’t know who you are,” he admitted. “I know only that you fought Captain Rogers this afternoon. He’s… a friend of friend, I suppose.”

The Soldier’s eyes were empty, but there was an intensity that tracked his every movement. This was an adversary Loki knew he couldn’t ignore or underestimate. To have him under his thumb would be a wonderful thing, but first he wished to know why this man stood against the Avengers.

“Considering your company, I also assume you work for the people who have torn SHIELD asunder.” he continued, “I would congratulate you all, believe me, I really would. Nothing pleases me more than to see them fall. But I do hate when people steal my targets.”

He stood in front of him and leaned down, leaving only a breath of space between their faces.

“So let’s see what you know.”

Loki placed the Infinity Gauntlet on the Winter Soldier’s temple and both their eyes bled gold.

“Ah…” Loki sighed. A smile stretched across his face as his victim began to tremble. “Hello, Sergeant Barnes.”

* * *

**Outskirts of D.C. - A Safehouse**

“Say that again,” Tony goaded, clearly upset. “Say that again, Fury.”

“They’re using the helicarriers to-”

Tony slammed both his hands on the table and Sam jolted, but Natasha and Steve just stared forward at Maria Hill. She shook her head.

“My helicarriers. You did _what_ to _my_ helicarriers?!”

“They belong to SHIELD, Mr. Stark, and they were routine modifications, we had no idea-”

“We agreed to no modifications without my approval!” Tony spun the laptop around, showcasing the blaring red text that flashed on the screen. “ACCESS DENIED. All of my back doors, gone. All of my fail-safes, gone, because you let some grubby-handed technicians make ' _routine modifications_ '-”

“Mistakes were made, Tony.” Steve cut in. “We’ve got to work with what we got, now.”

He shoved the laptop into the middle of the table, standing up and abandoning his chair to pace. Natasha watched him fume.

“We’ve got these instead,” Fury continued, leaning forward and opening a metal briefcase. “Modifications of our own.”

Three hard drives were safely stored within. Tony only glanced at them as he paced around the table, Loki’s jacket billowing as he did so.

“We can’t just do one helicarrier,” Agent Hill was saying. “We need all three. They’ll give us control over the weapons systems and we can shut it down.”

Tony went over to a small table shoved up against the wall, where a makeshift kitchen had been cobbled together. He angrily began to make coffee, lamenting over the absence of his bots. He felt like a caveman, using some fifteen dollar Keurig to make a shitty cup of joe. Steve was making a speech about the end of all things - Hydra and SHIELD, specifically - that finished just around the time Tony dumped hot caffeine in a paper cup.

“I go where he goes,” Sam was saying.

“Jarvis, note it. Send it.” Tony muttered under his breath. Anyone close to the team was worth looking into, and Sam Wilson was next on his list.

“It looks like you’re giving the orders now, Captain.” Nick Fury said.

“Doth my ears deceiveth me?” Tony asked, leaning back against the table. “Director Fury, not directing?”

“Shakespeare sounds just as bad as it looks on you, Tony.” Natasha jabbed.

“Oh, I am wounded! Mostly by the coffee, though, this stuff tastes like dirt.” He put his cup down and moved back over to their table, feeling a bit calmer now. “I’m game for taking down SHIELD, really, it would make my day. My year, actually, but that’s a lot of firepower against one super soldier, two wounded spies, and a man with really pretty wings.”

“Take that as a compliment, Sam,” Steve said as an aside.

“Are you saying you don’t want to help us?” Fury demanded.

Tony made a wide gesture with his hands, eyebrows raising high on his forehead.

“I don’t know, am I?” he shot back, “Not an Avenger anymore, so…”

“Tony,” Steve said, almost apologetic but mostly exasperated. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t going to help.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t a fugitive. Again. Number four is nicer than number ten, though, Pierce’s got better taste.”

Fury laughed and shook his head. “Gettin’ about time for you to stop showboatin’ and say what’s on your mind.”

“You know me so well, don’t you?” Tony clapped his hands and returned to his seat. “I feel like there’s still a lot I don’t know. Little birdie told me there’s a dude with a metal arm?”

“The Winter Soldier.” Agent Hill reported. “He’s a covert assassin, sometimes-spy. We’re not sure where’s he’s from.”

Tony glanced around to everyone. Steve was staring at the ground and Sam was staring at Steve. Natasha was watching Tony, poker face intact, more interested in his reaction than anyone else’s.

He vocalized the sound of a buzzer, thumbs down. “Wrong answer.”

Hill frowned and Steve sighed.

“Bucky,” he finally said, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up to Tony, “Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes of the 107th.”

“James Buchanan…” Tony blinked, flabbergasted. But it was hardly the strangest thing that he had heard in the last few years. “...Well, that’s a blast from the past.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“What about you?” Natasha interjected. “Where’s your blast?”

Tony glanced over to her, tugging at the throat laces of his shirt.

“On his way.”

“You don’t know where he is.”

“You don’t miss anything, do you?”

Natasha smiled, offering him a soft nod.

“You should know that.”

“Will you help us, Tony?” Steve continued. “We could use you.”

Tony sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Jarvis, clear my schedule.”

It was just a figure of speech. Remote-Jarvis couldn’t access his schedule from here, but Tony was pretty sure it was clear anyway, phrase notwithstanding.

Steve gave a soldierly nod. “Thank you, Tony.”

“And Loki?” Natasha pressed again. “Will he help?”

He shrugged, folding his hands together and opening his mouth to answer, but someone beat him to it.

“In the words of your friend, Captain Rogers…” Loki stepped out of a shadow, never one to miss his queue. “I go where he goes.”

Tony didn’t even care about how Loki had gotten in here, undetected. He didn’t care that he was wearing the Gauntlet or that his flare for the dramatic had put the entire room in silence. Maybe he looked a little healthier now, and maybe he had undone the optimum number of buttons down his shirt, but that didn’t change one damn thing.

He stood and pulled off his jacket, unbuckling a few fitted straps at his sides and tearing the green tunic off over his head. He stood shirtless in a room full of spies and soldiers without a care in the world, shoving the outfit against Loki’s chest.

Loki stood amused, lips pursed and one elegant eyebrow climbing up towards his hairline.

“Excited to see me?”

“Shirt. Now. Gimme.”

Loki rolled his eyes and took the clothes pressed on him, stepping forward and tossing them onto the table. He began to unbutton the shirt he was wearing, exposing himself without shame. In turn, this revealed the marred expanse of his chest, which drew the attention of everyone in the room.

“Would you all like a closer look?” Loki asked archly. He slipped his hand out of the Infinity Gauntlet and set it on the table. “Surely I’m not the only one who bares scars.”

Sam and Steve looked away, but the spies in the room continued staring until Loki pulled his tunic back on. The scar - the death wound - was a gash of raised skin and strange lines, stretched straight from sternum to navel. Spiderwebs of red and black discolored his skin here and around the battle scar from Thor’s axe, both standing as a permanent reminder of the Aether. But there was a more curious abnormality to be seen; a splash of blue frosted the edges of the scars, streaking his skin with scarification that Tony couldn’t forget.

A young Loki, standing in a frozen plain, gripped by a frost giant. A desperate Loki in a vault, picking up a blue box and watching his skin change colors.

“I take it that Stark has just pledged his loyalty to your cause?” He handed his borrowed shirt to Tony, who gave a sigh of relief and put it on. Any distraction was a good distraction. “What is it that I’ve just agreed to?”

“Is this the crazy red and green bastard from New York?” Sam asked, throwing his hands up as he spoke. “No, man, no. We’re not- Steve, really?”

“Red.” Loki said, thoughtful as he tugged at the straps and buckles at his sides. “That’s a first.”

Steve nodded. “Sam, meet Loki, of Asgard.”

“Just Loki.” His words were clipped short. He pulled on his jacket, snapping the collar and tilting his chin up. “A pleasure to meet you, I’m sure.”

“Enough small talk.” Tony insisted, coming to stand next to him.

“Shall we trade trousers, as well?”

“Please keep your pants on, boys.” Fury said, breaking his silence. “Nice to see you again, ‘real power.’”

Loki smiled with all his teeth, laughing shortly.

“The pleasure is all mine, Director.” He picked up the Infinity Gauntlet and gestured with it before sliding it back on his hand. He nodded to Agent Hill. “Agent.”

Maria just glared at him, not saying a word in response. Tony shook his head.

“You got a problem with helping them, or what?” he asked.

“I go where you go.” Loki repeated, pacing backwards. “But you may be interested to know I’ve paid a visit to… What do they call him? The Winter Soldier?”

Steve took a step forward and Loki came to a stop, placing one hand up to halt him.

“Based on that reaction, I assume you already know his origins. Oh, do close your mouth, it’s quite odd to see it slack.”

Sam crossed his arms and straightened his shoulders, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Tony could appreciate anyone who tried to put on a front against Loki, even if they didn’t know any better. Loki continued on without pause.

“I’ve seen his entire life, Captain. The gauntlet grants such insight.”

Steve stalled at the implications of this.

“Did you take his mind?” Natasha asked, verging on the cusp of hopeful. “Like Clint?”

“That was the plan. However…” Loki smiled. “...upon seeing his century, I thought it would be best to leave him to his own devices.”

“And this is why I don’t like you.”

“I thought my attempted sacking of your city was why you didn’t like me, Director.”

“What do you mean?” Steve pressed.

Tony watched Loki out of the corner of his eye, rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves. He had learned to stop asking questions. It was better to just let him get his speech out and deal with the consequences later.

“Sergeant Barnes has many crimes to answer for. But you and your...” Loki paused and Tony looked up, watching the words die on his lips as he realized something, “...friends…”

Steve was unflinching in the face of Loki’s gaze. Silence fell between them and then he smiled, all teeth, before he laughed and that expression slid off his face.

“I would advise laying all your cards on the table, Captain.” he challenged.

“And if they’re already there?” Steve asked slowly.

“Well. Then I applaud you.” Loki stepped away from the table, moving towards the door. “But you will have neither my magic nor the gauntlet.”

“Why?” Fury asked, leaning forward.

“Because I loathe when people attempt to lie to me.”

Loki turned to leave the room in one sweeping motion, the tails of his coat whipping around his legs. Tony tried not to laugh at his exposed ankles - they still hadn’t returned each other’s pants, after all - and glanced to everyone else in the room.

Fury and Agent Hill were staring at each other. Fury looked like he might pop a vessel, but it wasn’t an immediate threat; Hill was trying to find her inner zen. Steve shook his head and folded his arms, moving to sit at the table and pulling one of the computers over. He didn’t say a word and Sam Bird-Man came to sit next to him, starting to talk strategy.

Natasha folded her arms in front of her, moving carefully with her wound, and tilted her head towards Tony. He tilted his head back and she gave a pointed gesture with an eyebrow. Go follow Loki, her expression said. Talk him into co-operating.

But then there was a hand on his forearm, grasping lightly, and Loki led him out of the room himself.

“My trousers might fit you accordingly, but I’m quite tired of this draft up my legs.” Loki insisted once they were through the door.

Tony couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. They had just left on a dramatic note about lies and weapons, and here Loki was whispering about their pants. The fact that he could hear Steve saying “don’t ask, trust me,” as they left only made it that much funnier.

“All right, all right, buy me a drink first.”

“Hm.”

Fifteen minutes later they found themselves outside, wearing their own clothes again and standing on top of the dam. Loki leaned against the railing, slipping the Infinity Gauntlet off and vanishing it with a wave of his hand.

“Do you really have a pocket dimension?” Tony asked, leaning against the railing next to him. Their arms were touching. “Because if it is, I’m jealous and that’s not fair.”

“‘Tis magic.” Loki shrugged. His skin paled slightly underneath the sun. “I suppose ‘pocket dimension’ is correct. Your envy is warranted.”

“I want one.”

“Well, once you’ve learned sorcery, I’ll be happy to share.”

“No you won’t.”

“No, I won’t.”

Tony shook his head and laughed under his breath, folding his arms.

“How’re you holding up?”

Loki sighed, closing his eyes.

“Well enough,” he allowed. “But in no state to go to war.”

Tony pushed off the railing and stood in front of Loki, flattening out the pleats on his duster. Loki cracked open his eyes to look down his nose at him.

“No one’s chasing us.” Tony said, glancing both way down the path. “We’re finally just… here.”

“Indeed.” Loki breathed, reaching up to brush his thumb over Tony’s goatee. He tilted his chin down with a sigh. “A moment of peace.”

The breeze brushed by and tousled Loki’s hair. Tony appreciated the silence while it lasted, but it wasn’t long before he found himself talking again.

“Y’know, I know I’m not the one for sappy shit and talking, but-”

“Malibu?” he ventured.

“Yeah.”

“Well,” Loki leaned down, “I don’t think we need words for that, do we?”

For once history wasn’t repeating itself. This wasn’t starting with Loki pinning Tony up against a wall or keeping him in his chair, one or both of them angry and lashing out. In fact, it was Loki who was pinned against something this time. Neither of them were angry, just tired, and coming to terms with the last few days of their lives.

“You saved me.” Loki breathed. “Twice over, Stark.”

“Three times, actually, if you count diverting the nuke.”

“Oh, how could I ever forget about that?” He laughed. “You did it for my sake, surely.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Tony sighed, placing one hand on Loki’s shoulder. He wanted to lean up and kiss him, just to feel it again, to throw caution to the wind, but there were too many words on his lips.

“I saw it. Through the gauntlet.” he admitted. “All of it, I didn’t mean to- really, it just- I was just trying to-”

Loki’s mouth was on his then, swallowing all his confessions. There was a hand on his cheek and another on his neck that pulled him close and Tony fell apart. His hands were on Loki’s hips and he leaned in, lost in the sensation.

When they parted, Loki’s voice was soft.

“I know.” He leaned back, tilting his head as he considered Tony. “Whatever you saw, it was only a fragment of my life. Likely as much as I know about yours.”

Tony shook his head, but eventually that transitioned into a nod. Loki’s thumb traced his jawline.

“We can speak about the past another time. And if you would have me fight at your side, Stark, I shall. But this is not my battle.”

“Well, we’re stuck together, aren’t we?” Tony laughed, half-stepping back. “Fugitives, again. Big ol’ Daddy Odin breathing down our necks. The government hot on our heels.”

Loki chuckled, letting his hands fall to Tony’s hips. His smile faded after a brief moment of silence.

“In the interest of... “ He gestured to the empty space between them. “...this, I feel obligated to tell you something.”

Tony frowned, a concerned crease etched in his forehead. Loki continued.

“Captain Rogers is not being honest with you regarding his Bucky.” The name was said with false sympathy, laced with reserved distain. “He knows something he is not sharing with you.”

Tony groaned, letting his head tilt back. He pulled away and gripped the railing, looking out over the cement landscape.

“Why?” he lamented. “That was such a nice moment. More than twelve percent of one, too, but you just had to bring him up.”

Loki folded his arms, chuckling softly.

“Trust, Stark. That is what we’ve asked of each other. And trust, unfortunately, involves honesty.” He stepped away from the rail and turned, placing his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “If he’ll not be honest with you, then I shall.”

Tony let his chin fall to rest on his chest and Loki’s thumbs dug into his shoulder blades, working at the knots of tension around his bones..

“Then you know what it is.”

“Perhaps. But my absolute honesty would rob him of the opportunity to be candid with you.”

He groaned again and felt Loki’s lips on the back of his head.

“On a scale of one to ten - if he tells me - how much am I going to hate him for it?”

“Five.”

That was manageable, Tony thought.

“And if he doesn’t?”

Loki considered this.

“...Twelve.”


	10. Chapter 10

Tony stood alone on the top of the dam, leaning over the railing and staring out at the horizon. 

In the grand scheme of things, what was he to the Avengers?

_ “I don’t want to join your super secret boyband.” _

He was Iron Man. The catalyst for something greater. 

_ “If we can’t save the world, we’ll damn sure Avenge it.” _

He was their founding father and quickly became their obscenely generous patron. 

_ “What I want is for someone to ask me if I even want to be on the team anymore.” _

In the end he was another wounded warrior. A veteran unlike any other.

He sighed.

Maybe he was a hypocrite, too.  

There would always be secrets. Loki would have them. Tony would have them. Everyone would; it was the nature of who they were: super soldiers, spies, and liars.

But when it came to the end of things, Tony needed to know that the big secrets - the important ones - wouldn’t be kept from him. Was that so much to ask?

“Tony.” 

Steve came up on his left, hands in his pockets. He turned to face the railing as Tony straightened up, clapping the dust off his hands.

“Steve.”

“Loki, he said yo-”

“I know, I know. Listen.” He held his hands up in fake surrender, then let them fall. One fist fidgeted against the other palm. “Loki’s got it in his head that you’re holding something back.”

Steve’s brow twitched down in concern before he shook his head, his shoulders rising and falling with a sigh.

“And you trust that.”

“Yeah.” Tony said. “I know how it sounds. I get it, I do, but you haven’t been dragged around the universe with him. Hell, dragged  _ him _ around through all this shit - literally - I mean-”

“Tony.”

“-Yeah?”

“I get it.” He looked to him, then back out to the sky. “He was with you to the end of the line.”

Tony looked down. “Yeah.”

There was silence for a moment and then he looked back up to find Steve staring at him. Loki’s suspicions rang true between the two of them, but neither of them had anything more to say. The silence reigned. It strained against Tony’s patience, threatening to snap the bonds of his restraint. His jaw worked and he sharply turned his gaze aside, before finally finding the will to return his focus. 

“Just say it.” He wasn’t begging, but he felt like he was. “What aren’t you telling me, Steve?”

Steve hung his head, closing his eyes. “Tony, it’s not- it’s not going to change anything.”

“You not telling me things is what changes things.” 

“I know.” He looked up, his expression in painful earnest. “But… you don’t have to know. It’ll just hurt.” 

In that moment, Tony realized that Steve was the one begging. 

“I’m a big boy, Rogers. Tell me.”

Steve folded his arms across his chest and turned to face him. His stance swayed and switched as he struggled with himself, but he finally steadied and gathered himself up to tell the truth.

“...We just found out last night,” he began, “We were in Jersey, Nat’ and I, at an old SHIELD base trying to figure things out. Had a thumb drive that ended up activating some old computers. Know Arnim Zola?”

“Rings a bell.”

“Well, he’d uploaded himself into them. Started telling us about how Hydra had infiltrated SHIELD.”

Tony let Steve pause and watched him fidget. All of this was no surprise, given recent events, so that couldn’t be the secret. 

“He told us what Hydra had been doing all those years. He was stalling-”

“ _ You’re _ stalling.”

“Damn it, Tony- It was Hydra, all right?!” Steve reeled himself back in with a sharp breath and shook his head, only apologetic when he looked back up to Tony. “It was… It wasn’t a car crash.”

At first, Tony didn’t make the connection. It was only when he saw the shame in Steve’s eyes that he realized what he meant, and the gavel fell with his quiet apology.

“I’m so sorry.”

The world slowed as if it had stopped on its axis. Tony blinked and he remembered a million things all at once: the piano and songs of September, waving goodbye to his Mother out the window, waking up in the middle of the night to Obie’s call, and standing on that street before he went back to MIT.

“Hydra…”

He didn’t hear himself speaking. He didn’t feel the tears in his eyes. All he knew was the white hot rage boiling in his stomach, bubbling up and over until he felt it in his heart. 

“Hydra killed them?”

He looked to Steve for the answer. The worst he had ever wondered about the accident was if Howard had been drinking. After Afghanistan and Iron Man, the thought that Obadiah might have been involved had crossed his mind. But this? The truth hurt more than any conspiracy.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I would’ve-”

He felt himself begin to tremble. Blinking hard to dispel the tears, his expression twisted in grief and fury. 

“No,  _ no. _ None of that.”

“Tony-”

“You wanted us to fight?” He demanded, steeling himself. “Well, you got it, Cap’. I’ll burn the motherfuckers to the ground. Every last one of them.”

* * *

Tony had left Steve alone after that, dismissing himself in a quiet fury. The good Captain remained there on the dam, watching the sun rise in silence. The dawn was timeless. The past, the present, the future - they didn’t exist for a brief moment. This was the calm before the storm.

Tony’s pain already haunted him. Haunted him like Bucky did, like the past and the war.

In the grand scheme of things, who was he to the Stark family?

_ “Levels at one hundred percent.”  _ Howard had said, before the serum.  _ “We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready… as we’ll ever be.” _

Steve was an experiment. In part, Howard’s greatest success.

_ “The moment you think you know what’s going on in a woman’s head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked.” _

And his friend, too.

After the ice, he met Howard’s son. Tony Stark - genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist - had gotten him riled up within minutes. No one had seemed surprised.

_ “You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.”  _

But then, hours later, Tony was saying,  _ “Call it, Cap.” _

He had been a leader. Good ol’ Captain America, back from the war, taking point for the Avengers. He was becoming a twenty-first century man with plenty of friends to support him. Even Tony cared, beneath the ego and snark. Until-

_ “Tony… I saw you… We all saw you…”  _ He had ignored Tony’s protests. He had yelled and screamed  _ “Why?!”  _ and thought about ending the Stark legacy with his own hands. Without even truly asking any questions.

Steve had betrayed his friends and everything that he stood for.

The evidence - falsified, but true at the time - said that Tony had killed Thor. Fury had believed it and Steve had followed in his stead like a good soldier. All because he had been furious, because he had been hurt, and because he had lost someone  _ again -  _ someone under his command.

Someone like Bucky.

So he hadn’t told Tony the whole truth. Maybe he owed it to him. But that terrible, festering secret that Bucky had killed Howard and Maria would only cause more pain. More arguments and secrets. More fights.

If Tony Stark tried to kill Bucky Barnes, Steve knew he would stand in the middle. He would fight tooth and nail to keep Bucky safe, because it wasn’t Bucky’s fault that he did those things. All of that was Hyrda’s sin.

So that’s what he had told Tony: that Hydra had done it.

In the end, wasn’t that the truth?

“He’s working on War Machine.” 

Natasha’s voice snapped him back to reality. He blinked at the sunrise, letting his arms unfold and hang at his sides.

“Oh.” 

She walked over to him, bending to lean her forearm on the railing. She had her other arm in a sling, though she was likely to abandon it once they went out into the field.

“He’s fighting with us.”

“He told me.”

“But you didn’t tell him.”

Steve sighed. Of course she knew. 

“...I couldn’t,” he confessed.

“Mm-hm.”

She straightened up and hip-checked the railing, leaning against it as she watched the dawn with him. There was no judgement from her. She only ran her hand through her hair. 

“It’s a secret you have to keep now. You know that, right? He won’t forgive you.”

“He’d kill him.”

“He still might.” she warned.

Steve grit his teeth. “I won’t let that happen.”

“He’s not the man you knew, Steve.”

“Who?” he demanded. “Tony, or Buck? Because I can’t be sure anymore.”

Natasha just blinked at him, waiting for his anger to pass. Steve’s shoulders fell with a sigh and he crossed his arms again, turning his gaze back to the horizon. He couldn’t look at her.

“We can help him.” he insisted, “I want to. We have to give him a chance. Like…”

“Like what?”

“Like Clint taking a chance on you.”

Natasha continued to stare at him. She wasn’t about to back down from her past.

“Clint made a choice, Steve. We all make choices. You just have to be sure you can live with it.”

“You don’t-”

“I live with them, Steve. The people I’ve killed. The things I’ve done.” Her interruption was harsh, meaningful, and all of Steve’s words died on his lips. “But it’s not about us. James will have to live with what he’s done-”

“He didn’t  _ have  _ a choice, Nat.”

“But he’ll carry the guilt all the same.”

That truth rang loud and silenced them both. Natasha showed some mercy in turning her gaze to the sky, where the sun was beginning to creep up over the distant city.

“You should talk to Sam.” she said, changing conversation. “He’s ready when you are. Tony and I need to go cut off the Security Council before they get to the Triskelion. Fury will follow in the helo.”

“The suit?” Steve tried not to sound relieved about the topic, but he knew she would notice.

“Will be with Loki, standing by. He wants to stay out of the fight.”

That was hard to believe, Steve thought. Fighting was an Asgardian’s favorite past-time.

“Why?”

“It’s not his battle, he says.” she murmured, thoughtful. “Who knows? He’s offered to assist us where he can.”

“Really?”

“Surprisingly gracious of me, I know.” Loki interrupted. 

Steve tensed, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling. He would never get used to the way Loki just appeared out of nowhere, leaving others to wonder how long he had been listening. Natasha didn’t seem ruffled, but of course she wouldn’t, so Steve tried his best to hide the way he startled and turned to face their intruder.

Loki sauntered down the pathway towards them, his expression somewhat open.  _ I come in peace,  _ it said, and,  _ tell me everything.  _ If he weren’t a known liar and murderer, Steve might actually have been placated.

“What did you tell Stark?” he inquired, leveling his gaze on them. 

“The truth.” Steve stood a little straighter, subconsciously sizing himself up against a God.

Loki studied him, hands behind his back, and finally shook his head. He stopped short a few feet away from them and smiled, sly and sarcastic.

“Dear Captain, haven’t you yet learned?”

“Don’t lie to the best.” Natasha advised. “Play nice, boys.”

“Always.” Loki allowed. He tilted his chin up as he regarded him, curious. “If not the truth, what news has taken him with such frenzy, I wonder.”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Steve tested.

“I would hear it from you.”

“It’s not my story to tell.”

“His parents, slaughtered. I know.” he confessed. “But surely he wouldn’t don his armor for the sake of their murderer.”

Steve tensed, but didn’t back down. Loki knew. He had seen inside Bucky’s mind with that alien gauntlet and now there were no secrets.

“I’ll admit,” he continued. “I almost didn’t catch it. A lie is different than withholding truth, Captain Rogers, but I believe you find them one in the same. How was I to know that you were privy to the Soldier’s sins? Your dear Widow didn’t let on when I spoke of his crimes.”

Steve’s jaw set, creating lines of tension in his face that he desperately tried to smother.

“You weren’t going to tell him,” he realized.

“Oh, I might’ve. Would’ve, even, given time. I may yet still, since again you decide to withhold the most important details.”

“You can’t tell him now.” Steve decided, commanding more than pleading. “It’ll destroy him.”

“No. It will destroy you, because Stark with destroy  _ him. _ ” He smiled like he had won something. “Persuade me to do as you ask, because I find myself caught in an oath of honesty to the Man of Iron. Ironic, I know.”

“Persuade you? These are people’s lives, Loki, not-”

“Lives. Deaths. Everything can be bartered with. Might I remind you to whom you speak? Words are my trade.”

“I-”

“Listen to him.” Natasha cut in. 

“Nat’?”

“Either you deal with him now, or he’ll hold this over your head. If he wanted to tell Tony, he would’ve, but-”

“But I know the value of words. Of secrets.” Loki finished, nodding. 

Steve swallowed through the lump in his throat, feeling as if he’d been cornered. 

“The price of my silence is simple, Captain.” he continued. “All I ask is a favor.”

“A favor?”

“In a time of my choosing.”

Steve took a deep breath and shook his head, trying to come to grips with his reality. Here he was dealing with the devil to save a friendship. Loki was an enemy, a  _ God _ , who shouldn’t be trusted under any circumstances. Tony might have lost sight of that but Steve hadn’t. This man had almost destroyed their world over a family feud.

But yet, here they were.

_ “I’m with you ‘till the end of the line.”  _ Bucky had said. Steve held tight to the memory.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Loki.”

* * *

Loki watched Tony from afar, his hands folded behind his back as Stark stalked around his armor like it was prey. The sun was rising above them, painting the Midgard sky in soft blues and pinks, but this beauty was ignored. Tony was engrossed in his computer, tethered to his suit by a series of cords. A madness had taken him; his wrath was swift coming, Loki thought. There was great pain in him, now. A pain Loki knew well. 

Perhaps he was capable of empathy after all.

He closed the distance between them, careful not to intrude too suddenly. Stark only glanced up to him for the briefest moment before returning to his work.

“Shutting down the fail-safes, clearing restrictions,” he explained, perhaps only to himself. His tone was hardened. “Getting it back on the Industries network, get JARVIS running right. I can make this work. Old, but packs a punch.”

“Surely.”

“Yeah. Surely.” Tony ran a hand through his hair, further messing it. “Steve and the others are getting ready?”

“Yes.” Loki reported. He stepped closer and Stark looked up again, watching him. 

“What?”

“This is not my fight.”

Loki’s hand fell on the shoulder of the armor, wiping away the morning dew. He feigned his attention towards the machine and saw Tony look back down in his peripherals. For a man who was usually so emotional, he was doing a very good job maintaining a solid mask of apathy.

“I know.”

“Yes, you do. Because you know that I never would have allowed you a place against Kurse.”

Again, his gaze rose. Perhaps it took him a moment to fully understand Loki’s meaning, but when realization dawned on him, he nodded. 

“That wasn’t my fight.” he agreed. “I-”

“Don’t confess your woes.” Loki advised. “Grieving is for the idle. That is not yet you.”

Tony’s fingers fell to the keyboard again and light shot through the cords between man, computer, and machine. The armor’s eyes lit with a white blaze that Loki watched with admiration.

“Fight. Let not your fury falter. Someone took from you what can never be returned. Do them the same favor.” Loki turned away from the armor and stepped close, leaving a brief space between them. “There’s no place for heroes in vengeance.”

Loki saw a striking resolve in his eyes, sparks flying as if he had stoked a fire.

“I know.”

“Good.” His hand fell on Stark’s shoulder this time, anchoring him in his spot. “Call upon me if you will. But I’ll not interfere.”

The silence that followed was of acknowledgement. Stark looked to the hand on his shoulder and touched it briefly, squeezing lightly, before finally shrugging it off.

“...I should’ve known, back in the cave.” Here came the confessions, raw and unfettered, spilling freely. He averted his gaze as he turned back to his work. “Should’ve known it was Obie. Should’ve known he was tangled up in all this shit - he probably did it, had them killed. Tried it on me, too, but I guess I’m just a little tougher than Howard, aren’t I?”

A name said with such bitterness could only belong to a father. Loki glanced away.

“We are not our fathers.” he said. “‘Tis impossible to be. But, dear Avenger, you will do what you do best. Without him. For him, perhaps.”

Stark laughed, but the sound was hollow. He pulled away from Loki with care, dropping his computer carelessly into the dirt as the Iron Man suit unfolded itself.

“I’m not an Avenger.” he reminded, stepping towards his weapon. “But I’ll avenge  _ her. _ ”

Loki understood.


	11. Chapter 11

**** It was over. 

Tony lay on a rooftop he didn’t recognize, all of War Machine’s alarms ringing in his ears, and stared up at the sky.

“And so they finally fall.” Loki said from beside him, thoughtful. “Those flying fortresses.”

The helicarriers were on a downward path, nose-diving into the Potomac. The Triskelion was folding like the Twin Towers. There were civilian and military aircrafts buzzing around the sky like a swarm of bees. It was destruction as usual, luring in everyone within a twenty mile radius.

“Let me out.” Tony snapped, sharper than intended, but he thought the suit would open anyway. A notification flashed on the heads up display, showing him the suit’s damage. “JARVIS, I know I’m wearing a gazillion dollar hunk-of-junk. Get me out. Now.”

There was a subsequent hiss of pressure and the faceplate released, which he quickly tossed to the side. He took a deep breath and ignored the look Loki was giving him.

“You’re slacking, Jarv’-”

“ _ Sir, this is the Mark II War Machine. It isn’t capable of self-removal. I apologize.”  _

Tony blinked up at the sky and sighed, struggling with the rest of the helmet before he managed to tear it off. It clattered to the ground between them.

“It’s fine,” he muttered, mostly to himself. “I know, I forgot. It- It’s fine.”

He forced himself into a seated position, the suit creaking as he leaned back on one arm and folded his legs in. Loki took a seat beside him, graceful instead of groaning. He picked up the two pieces of the Iron Man helmet and puzzled them together, his head tilting as he looked at the completed helm.

“‘Tis over, then.” Loki said, eyes traveling up to the sky. A storm was rolling in. “SHIELD and all its parasites.”

“Must be.” 

“And the Soldier?”

“Both of ‘em went into the river.” Tony shook his head, as if he were still trying to wrap his mind around it. “I went in, but he was already pullin’ ‘im out. Cap’ was out cold. It was like weren’t trying to kill each other.” 

“And you let him go.” Loki guessed.

“I…” he faltered, putting his elbow on his knee and leaning his head into his hand. “It was chase after him or get Steve help.”

“Hm.”

There were a hundred reasons that Tony should have gone after the Winter Soldier instead. But he hadn’t and now that was done. There was no changing it. 

“The boy is worried,” Loki said, graciously changing the subject and tapping his earpiece.

_ “I’ve been screening Mr. Keener’s calls.”  _ JARVIS’ explanation came from the helmet in Loki’s hand, its eyes lighting and dimming with his voice.

“I believe you mean to say you redirected them.” Loki corrected, somewhat harsh.

_ “You didn’t seem to be otherwise occupied.” _

Tony rolled his eyes and snatched the helmet back before Loki threw it off the edge of the building.

“Well, then send him a fruit basket. I’m busy.” He rolled it in his hands so the eyes faced away from him. Still, he laughed. “Imagine that. The God of Lies and Mischief and all sorts of fuckery consoling a twelve-year-old.”

“Consoling is a kind word,” which meant he hadn’t been very kind at all. “Either way, find the time to speak to him so I haven’t the displeasure.”

“Later. Just…” he shook his head, “Later.”

“And once you’ve tended to it?” he inquired. “What’s left here for you if this battle and your precious SHIELD are no more?”

Tony tensed slightly, but that was hidden underneath the armor. He turned his gaze away from the gathering clouds to look at Loki, absently turning his helmet in his hands.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I’ve said. What’s left for you on Midgard?”

“I’m Iron Man.” It sounded like the beginning of an argument or a protest, but Loki continued over him.

“This battle was nothing more than a petty squabble. Two players vying for power that has no meaning. You know it. I know it. Worse comes, and it arrives swiftly. Shall we leave more power open to them, unchecked, or take it as our own?”

He flicked his wrist into the open air before him and gold shimmered down his forearm. The Infinity Gauntlet materialized, summoned from some unseen place.

“Never kept together. Never kept apart.” Loki recited. “Greater enemies seek the missing four. We know the location of one, but what of the other three? Do we risk meeting them outmatched or in a stalemate?”

“Loki, I can’t-”

“Why? This is your Asgard, is it not? Forever yours, but forever tainted? Why stay?”

“I can still protect it.” 

“The Avengers call themselves its defenders, and yet you don’t count yourself with them. You can protect it from afar.”

“I can’t. We’re falling apart. Look!” He gestured to the helicarriers below, their smoke billowing up into the sky. “I can stay here. I can fix this. Steve’s gonna be a mess. This whole thing - the Avengers were a part of SHIELD and now they’re on their own. They... “ Tony looked to Loki, swallowing past a lump in his throat. “I’m sorry.”

“...I see.” Loki shook his head, glancing away before he looked at the sky again. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Yeah?”

“Loyalty is one of your many fatal flaws, Man of Iron.”

Tony laughed. The sound was mirthless. “Thanks.” 

He forced himself to stand again. The suit protested with every whir and whine, but it slowly groaned back to life. 

“That doesn’t mean this is it, though? Right?” he asked, “Even if you go out there, you’ll come back.”

“Shall I?” Loki wondered. “Do you know me so well?”

“I do.” Lightning flashed in the sky and Tony watched it arc through the clouds. “I don’t like it when people take away my things.”

There was a shuffle of movement and Loki was soon standing beside him. There was nothing terribly intimate about it, but through the fog of numbness Tony felt some faint comfort. The back of their hands were touching and their shoulders brushed against each other. 

“And you? Are you well?” Loki asked. He reached out to take Tony’s hand in his own.

Tony blinked. Here he stood, feeling as if he were on the precipice of some great doom, and he was holding hands with Loki.

“Always.”

Still, it felt as if the world were growing smaller by the second. So the suit powered up - what little it could do - and with a blast of the thrusters, Tony was upward-bound. The helmet clattered to the ground as he shot through the skies, teary-eyed and numb. 

Loki watched him go. After some time alone he picked up the Iron Man helmet once more, looking into its blank eyes with a mild curiosity.

“Jarvis?"

_ “Yes?” _

“Do us all a favor and contact Miss Potts.”

* * *

_ The conference room was quiet. Natasha’s hands stilled on the keyboard at her podium. Fury stood stoic in the threshold of the door. Dead members of the World Security Council lay silent, ignorant to the man that had just joined their numbers. _

_ Alexander Pierce fell. _

_ Tony lowered his gun. _

* * *

R hodey hadn’t woken up yet. Tony had set up camp in his hospital room, tinkering with one of War Machine’s broken boots to pass the time. This was his only place for a peaceful respite, as the halls were flooded with American soldiers - thanks to one unconscious Captain America down the hall - and the doctors were itching with questions about Rhodey’s condition. Loki had made himself scarce. 

Coward, Tony thought. 

After their little stunt at the military base, Rhodes had been airlifted to the nearest hospital with a fatal stab wound. It was only once the doctors had rushed him into surgery that Loki’s little trick had worn off. Apparently, all it took to get rid of magical illusions was a few alcohol wipes and an impending staple gun.

Of course, Loki hadn’t thought explaining his actions would be pertinent until they were both standing in the hallway looking in at Rhodey.

Tony sighed and put the boot on the ground next to his chair, kicking up his feet on the side of the bed and closing his eyes. He could deal with his moody boyfriend later - Rhodey needed him more.

A little nap wouldn’t hurt in the meantime.

* * *

_ Tony watched Steve fall from the helicarrier. He saw a flash of green from somewhere nearby; Loki, unseen, breaking his fall. There was barely a splash as he hit the water, but Tony was already soaring to his rescue. _

_ Someone else fell from the helicarrier. Tony stopped short when he saw two heads bobbing to the surface: Steve, unconscious, and the Winter Soldier dragging him to shore. _

_ He landed on the riverbank just as Steve slumped to the ground, face first into the mud. The Soldier - James Barnes - stared at him. _

_ “Soldier.” _

_ Barnes said nothing in return. After a long moment he turned away, calmly making his escape into the city. _

_ Tony let him go. There was enough Hydra blood on his hands. _

* * *

“You!” 

“Rhodey, hush. You’ll hurt yourself.” 

“I ain’t gonna hurt anyone but  _ him. _ ”

“James, now, really…”

Tony blinked awake to see two of his favorite people arguing in hushed undertones. 

“No fighting,” Pepper insisted. “It’s bad for your relationship.”

“ _ He’s  _ bad for our relationship.” Rhodey pointed out, and for some reason Pepper couldn’t find it in her to argue that point.

“Sure, sure,” Tony mumbled, rubbing his hand with his face, “Where’ve I heard that before?”

“Tony-” Pepper began.

“Tony, you pain in my ass-”

“Look, I’m sorry-”

“No, don’t apologize. You didn’t stab me, just stole from the government. Your regular Tuesday night, I get it, save the world, whatever.” Rhodey said, clearly on a tirade, “It’s your green-assed boyfriend I want, and you’re gonna help me get him, or so help me-”

Tony couldn’t help but laugh.

* * *

_ Steve woke up as Tony transferred him onto the gurney. Soldiers were rushing around them, securing perimeters and ensuring the safety of America’s greatest, most dangerous asset. _

_ “You’ll be fine,” Tony told him, eyes on the chaos around them. “Little bruised up, super soldier, no worries-” _

_ “I lied,” Steve whispered, delirious and concussed. Doctors began to fuss with him. Natasha appeared from the crowd and came to Tony’s side, touching Steve’s cheek. _

_ “I know.” _

_ “No,” Steve insisted, but he was fading. “Bucky… I’m sorry, Tony…” _

_ Natasha hushed him and helped the medics load him into the ambulance. _

_ Tony stared as they drove off down the broken highway, left behind by his own choice. _

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

The flight back home was long and lonely.

Fury and Natasha had gusted away with the wind. Steve and Sam followed in their wake, less like shadows and more like echoes, while Pepper traveled to the Tower with Agent Hill. Rhodey went home and took War Machine with him.

With Loki nowhere to be found, absent since the hospital, Tony had resigned himself to a quiet flight home in a chartered jet. He’d closed his eyes and tried to sleep through it. It didn’t work.

When he arrived at the mansion it was empty. This home didn’t feel like his own; it never had, not since the first time someone had destroyed it, and certainly not after the second time. It was as sprawling and luxurious as it had always been, but what had made it his was gone.

The ocean had swallowed his Mother’s piano. Howard’s mementoes were gone. Anything that had survived the first attack had been taken in the second, and all the knick nacks and sentimentalities that Tony hadn’t thought to store away were lost. He hadn’t been able to find the heart to bring whatever he had left into this… place.

JARVIS didn’t welcome him home. Tony bypassed the living spaces with a mindless ease, dipping past the piano-that-wasn’t-Maria’s to go down a spiral staircase into the lower level. There was only one place that mattered anymore.

The workshop was the same. The original structure had never been completely destroyed, so Tony had taken the construction efforts as a refurbishment. Layers upon layers of natural rock wall were to thank for that.

He blinked into the retinal scanner at the door and the locks hissed open. He could already hear the bots whirring and chirping somewhere deep in the room.

_ “Welcome home, Sir,”  _ JARVIS greeted, calm as always.

Tony collapsed into the leather of his couch, closing his eyes against the lights. JARVIS dimmed them in response.

“Hey, J.”

_ “You have eighty-seven voice messages and three-hundred-and-sixty-two-” _

“Dump ‘em.” 

Tony rolled onto his side and tucked his arm underneath him, careful of his bruised ribs. It was quiet until he heard DUM-E rolling by, clattering around the workshop table and knocking something to the ground before finally making it to the couch. Tony cracked one eye open to see the claw and lens that were peering over the armchair at him.

“Missed you, too, bud.”

He patted DUM-E’s support strut and the bot chirped before he rolled away again. Tony sighed.

_ “Mister Keener asked that-” _

“Have I ever told you about my parents, Jarv’?” he interrupted, staring at the blank space in front of him. 

_ “Yes, Sir. Your father was Howard Stark. Your mother was Maria Carbonell. They were married on-” _

“No, have I ever  _ told  _ you about them?”

JARVIS paused, no doubt scanning his logs for any mention of the Starks. There was a soft ping as he made a decision on the matter.

_ “No, Sir.” _

Tony closed his eyes. There were a million things he could be doing right now - checking in on Harley, trying to track down Loki, finding the Winter Soldier, techno-stalking Pepper, or calling his goddamn therapist - but the grief that bubbled in his chest distracted him from all of that. It couldn’t be spoken for, but he felt the need to try. Maybe that would be easier if he weren’t alone.

He just wanted Loki. That sweet distraction to everything real and terrible, because he was terribly unreal and chaotic and-

_ “You’re never alone, Master Stark,”  _ Edwin Jarvis had told him once, years ago,  _ “Not so long as I’m here. Remember that.” _

DUM-E dropped something else near the kitchenette. The other bots scrambled to scold and help, prod and poke, all while the ambiance of the workshop hummed around them. JARVIS waited.

“Then tuck in, Jarv,” Tony whispered, feeling some comfort soothe the ache in his heart. “You’re all I got right now.”

* * *

Seven days later Tony was tinkering beneath Howard’s hovercar when he failed to recognize the tapping sound of heels across the workshop floor. 

Consequently, Pepper’s voice startled him so badly that he slammed his forehead on the undercarriage and dropped his wrench.

“Fuck’s sake!” 

He rolled out from underneath the car with one hand on the frame and another on his forehead, glaring up at her from the ground. She stared back down at him, clearly startled by his reaction, but then a calm came over her.

“I see you’re doing all right, then.”

“I have a heart condition! Don’t scare me like that!”

Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony sat up, only pretending to be mad as he wiped grease off his hands with a blackened rag. He was five days into a work binge - he couldn’t remember the last time he had taken a shower. Between the sweat, dirt, and soiled clothes, that much was apparent. But luckily, she was used to this sort of behavior from him.

“I was announced, you know.” she pointed out, “But who could hear that over this racket?”

“This racket is my racket and you’re not allowed to turn it down-” As if on cue, JARVIS lowered the volume, “-You’re a traitor, J.”

Pepper knelt down and handed him a water bottle. The edge of her skirt crept up over her knees and Tony did his very best not to look (but he did). 

“When was the last time you ate?”

He cracked open the bottle and began to drink. 

“When was the last time you barged into my workshop?” he challenged.

“Tony.”

“This morning. I think. After the appointment?” He stood up in one quick motion, walking around her to the workshop table. Holograms flickered to life in his presence.

“Yes, and I got your results back.”

“I’m dying, aren’t I?” Tony lamented with every dramatic bone in his body. “It’s not like I’ve got a bear trap around my heart or anything. Wait, you got my results? What are we, married? Wait -  _ are _ we married? If we are, I get the kids in the divorce. You can have the art collection. And three-fourths of my retirement - no, one-third, you don’t buy  _ that _ many shoes-”

“You know very well I’d never say yes.”

“Ouch, Pep’.”

“Anyway, you passed with flying colors… for you, at least.” she continued, then paused before admitting, “They found an opening for you tomorrow.”

Tony’s hands paused in the air, leaving the hovercar blueprints to spin freely. Pepper came up to the opposite side of the table. He forced his hands to keep moving, opening up the car and going through the old mechanics. They lapsed into silence.

“You don’t have to, you know.” Pepper said kindly. “The reactor hasn’t given you trouble since the expo, right?”

Tony focused on the project at hand.

“There’s nothing wrong with keeping it.” she continued, watching him work, “Nothing at all.”

Silence again. Tony let it last until he realized he was just staring at the blueprints and getting nowhere, so pushed the hologram back into the table and shook his head.

“S’too bright.”

Pepper blinked. “...I’m sorry?”

“At night.” Tony explained, tapping the light in the center of his chest. What would happen to that nervous tick afterwards? “It’s too bright. Never made a cover. Lights up the damn room like a spotlight.”

He reached underneath his shirt and popped out the reactor, rolling it over in his hands for a brief, life-threatening moment. Pepper watched him play with his heart.

“...Nah,” he muttered. “Gotta say goodbye sometime.”

* * *

Shortly before surgery the following day, Tony received a series of text messages.

NATALIA:  _ Hospital’s clear. 51. Staying on ur 6. _

BIRDMAN:  _ In perch. Clear. Do u really drive ur chauffer? _

UNCLE SAM:  _ Block’s clear. Staying @ the door w/ Sam. _

They hadn’t been lacking in security measures prior to this. Tony’s money got him a lot of things, and today it got him a surgeon who was willing to do the operation with only a single assistant, an entire hospital wing to himself, and an Iron Man suit present in the corner of the operating room. With that, JARVIS was crawling through the hospital’s networks and Pepper had half the country on standby. But now he had a star-spangled bouncer, Natasha at his door, and Clint (out of hiding?) on the rooftops.

The only thing that would make him feel better about this whole thing was if he had a sorcerer at his side. But there was no finding Loki - there was only waiting for him.

He looked in on the operating room from the gallery, Happy and Pepper standing on either side of him. Natasha was waiting at the door.

“It’s time,” Pepper encouraged gently. Her hand was on his arm. “Are you sure?”

He nodded, gathering himself. He could die today. Those metal shard around his heart could finally snap shut and it would all be over. No more memories of Yinsen and the cave. No nightmares about palladium. Obidiah pulling his heart right out of his chest wouldn’t matter any more. Amora’s green gaze would be erased forever.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Probably not, he realized.

Some people thought dying was just another adventure. Maybe it was. But it wasn’t an adventure that mattered to the living - he couldn’t be Iron Man from the grave. Not yet, anyway, and until the day he could upload his brain onto a computer he had to persevere. What was the point in surviving if something stupid killed you, anyway? If everything you’d be leaving behind was so much better than all the demons that came with life?

“I’ll be alright.” he assured Pepper, patting her hand and giving it a squeeze. “Always am.”

He was lying. She knew it. He didn’t care.

“You better be,” she whispered. “You’re not alone, Tony.”

“I know.”

He leaned across and kissed her forehead, trying not to linger too long. He shook Happy’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder. He shot a quick text to Rhodey to let him know he was about to go under.

And then Natasha shadowed him into the operating room.

“Mister Stark,” the Doctor greeted him, sterilized hands held out like in prayer. His assistant lingered behind.

Tony sat down on the operating table and took off his shirt. In the corner of the room JARVIS lit the lights in the suit’s eyes, watching him. 

“Doctor…?”

“Strange. Steven Strange.” 

“Great.” 

Tony shook his head and lay back on the table, staring up at the blinding lights. He felt Natasha’s hand on his wrist. It seemed the doctor wasn’t going to waste time with small talk, so he closed his eyes and felt a soft pressure on his arm as a needle slid in.

“I tried,” Natasha said. Her hand fell on his chest, lingering near the arc reactor. “Couldn’t find him.”

Tony sighed. The world was already beginning to get hazy.

“Count back from ten, Anthony,” Doctor Strange was saying.

“I know,” Tony muttered. “Thanks…”

If he died here, he wondered what Loki would do. There was a hiss and release of pressure as Natasha safely stole away with his arc reactor, leaving him with only a soft squeeze to the hand and not another word.

“Ten… nine… eight…”

The world began to fade. It wasn’t like falling asleep - it was like teetering between something and nothing. 

“...seven… six…” 

He blinked against the light and saw the surgeons watching him. Gauging, analyzing, and preparing themselves for the operation of a lifetime.

He didn’t realize he was losing consciousness until it was too late. Darkness swallowed him and he leaned ever closer to the edge of oblivion, numb and quiet. Somewhere in that void where time didn’t exist and neither did he, a silhouette draped in gold and purple stared at him. It smiled. There was a soft hand on his face and he leaned into it as warmth crawled through his veins.

_ “You found him,”  _ It said.

 


	13. Chapter 13

With him, Loki brought a storm.

But the storm lingered outside the hospital. Its rain tapped against the window panes in the halls, but here in the operating room it cast no such calm. Loki lingered in the shadows here to watch Tony Stark willingly take the knife.

He had arrived too late. His banishment from Asgard had left him with few options with which to contact Thor - by the time he had emerged from the black roads beneath the city, Stark’s undertaking had already begun. His brother had been quick to relay the news and Loki even quicker to return to Midgard, but he had stepped out of the shadows hours after it had begun. So now he could only watch, shrouded by magic, as mortal men played God.

Loki knew a little of the ailment that Stark had harbored in his breast. To see it empty and open now was unsettling, but more nerve wracking was the intensity with which the surgeon worked. Those metal shards that had been kept at bay now worked vigorously to find their target; this mortal man, _Strange,_ was tasked with cheating death herself.

Loki wished he knew the magics to make it all go away. But he had never been a healer. His talent was in illusions, and an illusion wouldn’t save Stark’s life nor prolong it. To trust in this stranger to save his life brought Loki to a point of frustration he’d not known for decades.

He paced. Back and forth, back and forth, while the hours melted together and he became numb to the room.

Then her voice came.

“You found him.”

Ice spread through his veins and grabbed fast to his magic and his heart. Movement failed and his feet seemed like anchors. Somewhere in his breast he felt the Odinforce - just a whisper of it - trying desperately to pull him away. But it was weak, tied to an old oath etched into his bones, and he willed it away with nothing more than a breath. It couldn’t control him anymore. That decree - that _curse_ \- held no power over those exiled from Asgard.

 _“I forbid it!”_ He could hear Odin’s bellow through the centuries and the pain bloomed anew. _“They will bring nothing but pain upon you, son, and for that reason I cast them from your sight. I, Odin Allfather, with all the power of the Nine, forbid you from their presence. No words will be shared. No memories rekindled. Be gone these demons from your life!”_

Demons. His children nothing more than demons, cursed by prophecy.

It all made sense now, Loki thought. Only a monster could breed such demons. Of course Odin cast them out in fear of Ragnarok. But did he never think that his fear was what would begin the end?

He closed his eyes and folded his hands behind his back, staring intently at one square of tile on the floor. Despite it all, he knew his release from this decree meant nothing. If the magic still pulled at him, it would still pull at her; she and her brothers remained bound. He was as invisible to her as he was to Midgard.

Unwarranted memories came flooding back to his mind. For a time he reminisced, but a thought occurred to him through the haze: why was she here?

_Tony._

He spun sharply with this realization, thoughtless until he found himself confronted with the sight of Hela standing over Stark.

It had been millennia since he’d seen her last. Then she had been a lanky little thing, cusping on womanhood, drawn in the soft lines of her mother with cheeks and eyes mirroring his own. Crying out to him, frightened…

Now he saw half a woman, more beautiful than he had ever fancied, matched with another half of living shadow and skeleton. His daughter, destroyed and shining all at the same time.

“He’s not yours to take.”

The words spilled from him faster than he could reel them back. It was only by luck that they fell on deaf ears. Perhaps there was some mercy in Odin’s cruelties.

“I know,” she answered, and all the air left Loki’s lungs. “How nice to see you again, Father.”

Emotion fell away from him in an instant. His expression was blank as Hela moved away from Stark, turning her attention on him. He saw his own eyes staring back at him.

“You have questions,” she guessed, gliding towards him with every careful step, “Oh, breathe, Father. I needn’t take you now.”

He inhaled sharply, turning his chin up. For a brief moment he forgot about the aches that the Aether still wrang within him. His magic bubbled in his breast as the last of the Odinforce tried to call him away from Death’s presence.

“I was never bound by those words.” Hela admitted, stopping only paces away from him. Her shadows wisped around her like smoke. “To rule the dead you must be among their kind. Odin’s words hold no worth beyond the living. But he would never have you know that.”

Loki watched his hand rise to touch her cheek in a thoughtless gesture. Her lips curled in a crooked smile, the shadows poorly mirroring her flesh, and she moved to stop him.

“Your daughter is dead,” she said, not unkindly. Her fingers wrapped gently around his wrist.

Loki blinked. The numbness washed away slowly as he nodded, his hand falling back to his side.

“But you are her.”

“Ah, you do have a voice.”

“But you are her,” he repeated. “Dead or alive… or both.”

“Indeed.”

Anger replaced whatever shock had stalled him. But it was a simmering sort, not a flare of rage, that would find home with all his bitterness for Asgard. Anything else he felt was quietly resigned.

“You sent him,” Loki said. What else was there to say? “That much he told me.”

“Ah. Yes.” Hela turned to face the operating table once more, where Strange worked quietly with his helping hands. “You match each other in your recklessness.”

Loki could not tear his eyes from her to look upon his lover, but he felt no shame in that.

“I cannot dispute that.”

“There are few men who can claim to know three stones and survive. Fewer still who survive their seeker.”

“What do you know of it?”

“All.” That word rang loudly in the room, though it was spoken softly. “I’ve seen many souls in my hall by their fault. And there are those who’d use them to herald a different sort of Ragnarok in: my honor.”

“Hela-”

“Stay away from him, Father. You’ve your own destiny.”

“‘Tis mine to decide.”

Hela laughed. It was a strange sound, distant and yet not.

“We are all creatures of story. Once you learn that, everything will become very clear.”

Loki turned his head in the slightest way, curious at the concept.

“What author would I give the credit to?”

She smiled, but gave no answer.

“Tell me…” she glided back toward the bed, lingering over Tony. There was the soft clinking of metal shards being dropped onto a platter beside the surgeons. “Is this man worth interrupting your story? We both know how it ends.”

Loki followed her, finally bringing himself to look on the man before them. Tony looked so fragile in the bright light, like a glass doll on the verge of breaking. He feared to touch him.

“There are plenty of others attempting to herald the end of all things.” Loki murmured. “Why hurry them along when I know they shan’t succeed?”

“Hm.” she hummed, “And when his story does end?”

“So shall mine.”

Maybe Hela smiled. Loki wasn’t certain, for his eyes remained on Tony as his hand slipped around Stark’s.

"Then let us hope he survives this night.”


	14. Chapter 14

****Loki watched. The surgery dragged on, slivers of shrapnel plucked from Tony’s breast with precision. Each clinked in the silver platter as they were discarded.

So miniscule, he thought, and yet so deadly. Mere shards of metal had nearly destroyed a man who proudly clad himself in armor. Was it irony or simply a morbid joke?

He leaned against the wall separating this room from a gallery and crossed his arms on his breast. Hela was gone, unseen to him but likely lingering in the shadows. Why Loki had always felt Death pervading his life, no matter how often he cheated it, now made perfect sense. The thought left him rattling in the shell of his façade.  

Tony maintained. Loki waited.

But soon the shadow of death grew too long. It creeped underneath his fingernails, scratching up his bones and into his thoughts. He desperately needed to rejoin the land of the living. To those outside the room, watching and breathing all the same as him.

Their company proved as poor as Tony’s. To their credit, this was entirely Loki’s fault.

Pepper Potts was a woman scorned.

“You called me to clean up the mess!”

Perhaps he might’ve greeted her with apologies rather than passive commentary. Telling her that anxiety didn’t become her had earned him a fire worthy of the Valkyrior. By the way Agent Romanoff was eyeing him from the door, this would be no easy situation to talk himself out of.

“Miss Potts-”

“No.”

Half the day had passed. The hours showed on them all: Pepper stood with no shoes, her blouse twice-unbuttoned and her hair in a fly-away bun; Romanoff reclined in a tilted chair against the wall, tired lines etched around her mouth; and Loki wore plain clothes in lieu of cumbersome armor, unarmed. His patience stretched thin. He could scarcely imagine finding the passion Potts burned with. Tony’s warnings about her had merit.

“You don’t get to say anything,” she continued. Her anger was entirely unmatched in Loki’s eyes - few women could find grace and calm in these moments. Her poise was impressive. “You disappeared, Loki. I told you to come home.”

“I kept him safe,” he dared to say.

“No, he kept himself safe. _He_ came home. You called me when the fight was over and disappeared. _You_ called me to clean up the mess.”

“Stark and I had an understanding.”

“No. You’re not understanding.” She approached him with a confidence he’d only seen in the bravest (and most foolish) of warriors. “ _Everyone_ calls me to clean up the mess.”

A single, manicured finger prodded his chest and Loki stared at her, unsure of her meaning. Any urge to break her hand or step away was lost beneath layers of thought. Perhaps he didn’t understand.

“Businessmen. Ambassadors.” she continued, “Lawyers, advisors, accountants, and reporters. Director Fury. Agent Hill. Bruce. _Steve_. Even Obadiah would call me. But Rhodey? Rhodey doesn’t call. Happy? Not a word. And you?” Her finger pressed into his collarbone once and he swayed in the most miniscule of ways, watching her as she stepped away. “You weren’t supposed to.”

Pepper gave a dignified sigh as she folded herself into a nearby chair, picking up an abandoned clipboard from the floor and placing it on her lap. Her message was clear.

“Three calls,” she said, quieter now. “Rhodey called me when he went missing. When he was struggling after that.”

“I see,” was all Loki could think to say.

He turned towards the window to watch the surgery. It finally seemed to be nearing its end.

“You’ve got two left, Loki. And if you actually care about him...” In the reflection of the glass he could see her watching Tony, as she always did. “Don’t up and leave after you do.”

* * *

_“Seeks death of all things...in my name, for my name...,”_ said a woman, _“...kept separate… You understand inevitability, Loki, you more than any… Ragnarok heralded…”_

_“...stand by, apathetic…?”_

_“You mistake acceptance for apathy, Father. Of all… shouldn’t…”_

Tony felt relief sink somewhere in his chest. Unable to comprehend the levity of the conversation, he could only appreciate the fact that Loki was near.

_“I did all in my power… Bor’s blood sealed Fenrir’s fate. Jormungandr slumbers… You, beyond me…”_

The conversation dissolved into sounds Tony couldn’t comprehend. Colors grew out of sound and visions blended up out of the darkness. Red swirled in his vision and blue sparked at his fingertips. Yellow tinted his thoughts. He breathed purple and felt a green wind blow by. Gold warmed the arc reactor in his chest, but that space was impossibly cold - empty, black and void. It bred fear that crawled under the layers of his armor, infecting everything that kept him safe. Kept him important and strong and valuable and-

“Stark.”

His eyes opened to a terribly white and bright world. There was a smudge of black in it, angled to the side as Tony tried to blink away the lingering anaesthesia.

“Is he awake?”

A hand came to his forehead. A buzzer sounded. There were people around him and another hand on his bicep, squeezing.

Loki came into focus and consciousness caught up with his body all at once. A burst of adrenaline brought clearer thought and Tony grabbed at his chest and attempted to sit up, only to be thwarted by a stronger hand.

“Relax,” Loki guided.

“Do you know where you are?” someone else asked.

Tony grumbled something he didn’t quite understand and Loki chuckled. He closed his eyes against the fluorescents and blindly reached for his phone. Beneath his other hand he could feel the bandages of his surgery, numb from agony and medicine, but the pain would eventually catch up to him. He knew he should be grateful he couldn’t feel it now.

“Morning, sunshine.”

“Oh god, who let Bart’n in?”

Unlike before, those words came out clearly. Loki was definitely laughing, although quietly.

“Yeah, looks like he’ll be just fine,” Clint dismissed.

The chime of Pepper’s laugh came from somewhere and Tony knew that she was the one who put his phone in his hand.

“Pep?”

“You’ll be the death of me, Mr. Stark.”

“And she’ll be the death of me,” Steve added. Tony wondered why he was here. “I thought Fury was bad.”

“You should be kinder, Captain Rogers. I am the one who controls your assets.”

“You what now?”

Tony snorted. He kept his eyes closed, letting reality sink in. Everyone was here - that was comfort enough. His phone buzzed softly in his hand after a moment of tapping the back sensor. JARVIS had come to party, too.

That chatter continued around and over him. Loki’s hand remained on his bicep and he carefully felt over the expanse of bandages through his hospital gown. It was gone. No one needed to confirm that. That big gaping hole in his chest was really just a big gaping hole - there was no magnet to power him or his suits anymore.

So why didn’t he feel relieved?

_“Stark.”_

Hearing Loki’s voice in his head startled him so badly that he nearly put his hand through his newly-stitched chest. The pain was enough to stop him short, but Loki was quick to take hold of his hand and gently remove it from his breast. Their hands stayed together as Loki moved them to the bedside, a small, smooth stone between their palms. Tony cracked open his eyes.

“Min’ stone? Really…” He kept quiet, still struggling with consciousness. “Didn’ know it’d take dyin’ to get you back…”

_“Hyperbolic, as always. Agent Barton was right. You must be fine.”_

Tony tried for sass with a raised eyebrow, but wasn’t sure he had the strength to pull it off. Loki parroted the expression with much more grace.

“Tony,” Pepper interjected, touching his shoulder gently. He rolled his head towards her. “No complications. Your doctor’s bedside manner is horrible, but he says you’ll make a full recovery.”

“His pride rivals that of Asgard’s finest,” Loki added snidely. “And his arrogance that of yours.”

“Good. Means he’s worth the money.” Tony shrugged.

Pepper rolled her eyes and tucked her hair back behind her ear.

“Do you need anything?”

He shook his head, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Peace and quiet, maybe…”

“You heard the man!” Clint announced, loud enough that Loki glared. “Out. Out. It’s also the code word for food, like, now. C’mon, Cap’, I know you’re starving too.”

Natasha sighed from her corner in the room. Steve grumbled his agreement and they all said kind goodbyes as they left. But Tony held fast when he felt Loki move to follow them.

“No.”

Loki paused, then settled back down in his chair. He felt Pepper’s eyes on him from across the bed.

“Stay, Lok’.”

He smiled a little, nodding. He would stay.

“As you wish.”

* * *

When it was time to leave the hospital, it was inevitable that Tony would find a way to have an argument before he got in the car.

“Look at me, I’m fine!” He stood out of the wheelchair with as much gusto as he could, leaving Loki standing behind the wheels as Pepper sized him up. “I’m a grown man who can drive a car, Pep’. Look at me, fit as a fiddle.”

“A fiddle with a hole in its chest.”

“All fiddles have holes!”

Loki seemed amused, letting go of the wheelchair handles. He folded his hands behind his back as green sparks cracked around its wheels and it drove itself back towards the hospital entryway.

“Mr. Stark-” Pepper was insisting, clearly irate. The driver of the car that had just arrived - a short, stocky man that Loki had never met - stood out from his seat and leaned against the vehicle. He twirled a keyring in his hand with a patient demeanor that suggested he was not unfamiliar with this.

“Miss Potts!” Tony shot back.

Loki moved around the two bickering adults, lightly brushing by Tony as he did so, and went to stand with this new man. He looked him over and received the same scrutiny in return, though without the other’s wariness.

“So…” said the man, “You’re him.”

“And you are?”

“Happy.”

Loki thought this was a queer answer to a simple question. But oddities were expected from Tony’s acquaintances.

“His old name for me,” Happy elaborated. “It caught on. Says I never looked happy enough.”

Loki shook his head in faint amusement. “I see.”

There was a moment of silence where they watched the dispute continue on the other side of the car. Pepper was bodily blocking Tony from moving around it, though he wasn’t putting up much of a fight.

“I’m Loki,” he said, breaking their silence, “I suppose it should be an honor to meet another of Stark’s comrades.”

A calm implication that it _should_ be, but was not.

“I suppose it’s an honor I don’t taze you, either.”

Loki smiled, impressed in some small way. “‘Tis a pleasure, then.”

“Enough!” Pepper was loud enough to draw their attention again. Tony had gone silent. “You’re injured. Conversation over.”

“I’m healing, not injured-”

“Three things, Tony,” she said and his mouth snapped shut again. “You’re not driving.”

“I am sober, there’s no one to impress, and I’ve-”

“-Got a big hole in your chest. You’re injured.” Sensing the conversation had indeed come to its end, Loki moved away from the driver as he ducked back into the vehicle. Pepper continued. “Drunk, busy, or injured, Tony. That’s the deal and you’re one of three.”

Loki had made his way back around the car and unlatched the rear door. Pepper gave an expectant look and Tony glared at them both, clearly tired, but just shook his head as he grumbled his way to concession. Loki opened the door for him.

“Some help you were,” he muttered. Loki ignored him.

The car hummed to life. Tony situated himself in the far seat and after some insistence by Pepper, Loki took the middle spot. The three of them together were a tight fit in the back of this small vehicle; it was clearly designed for aesthetics rather than practicality. Loki draped his arm over the back of the seat and around Pepper’s shoulders to make himself fit comfortably. Tony wedged himself near the door and shouldered over Loki’s arm to prevent compressing his chest. Happy gave them some measure of relief by moving his seat up.

“Hit it,” Tony muttered. “The sooner we’re home, the better.”

Happy obliged. Soon the hospital disappeared behind them as they shot down Midgard’s black roads, weaving through a city that Loki found himself unfamiliar with. This was no New York.

Time passed. Tony’s head drifted onto his shoulder as he leaned heavily against him, hinting at some level of exhaustion. Pepper crossed her legs over one of Loki’s to allow him more space to stretch. He found his arm jostled repeatedly off the sleek leather and onto her shoulder, which she brushed away with quiet understanding.

“Look at us,” Tony murmured, “Three Musketeers.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” called Happy from the front.

“Fine, fine,” he laughed, scratching his stubble against Loki’s shoulder. Loki rolled his eyes. “Happy and the Three Amigos. How about that? We’re like a band. A really shitty band.”

“Speak for yourself,” Pepper laughed.

“I’ve heard you sing in the shower.”

“And I’ve heard you, too.”

“Woah, I have diminished lung capacity. Don’t judge the disabled, Pepper, it’s bad for the company image.”

“Me? Bad for the company image? That’s rich.”

“Yes, I am. And you think I’m bad? Look at him.” Tony poked Loki in the chest.

“A fact I pride myself on,” he allowed, playing into their pettiness.

“I don’t see his name on the building, Tony.”

“Yet,” they both retorted, eerily in tune.

* * *

It took Tony approximately six hours to escape his bedroom.

To her credit, Pepper had done her best to enforce bed rest. Even Loki supported her, albeit passively, in the attempt to keep him behaved. But television and conversation would only entertain him for so long, and the small projects she had unearthed from the workshop could only progress so much from his bedside.

So when Tony heard Loki leave the bedroom that night, he’d dropped the sleeping act and shoved some pillows under the blankets. Pepper might buy it. JARVIS knew better than to tattle. As long as he could avoid Loki for a couple of hours, maybe he could get away with his escape.

The lights in the mansion stayed dim as he padded barefoot down the steps to the workshop. Only once he was safely inside with the door locked did the house respond to his presence.

 _“Welcome home, Sir,”_ JARVIS greeted and a weight lifted off of Tony’s shoulders.

“Hey, buddy.”

The bots whirred to life somewhere in the workshop. They were speeding towards Tony before he could get a word out, bumping around tables and projects until he had three lenses invading his personal space.

“Hold it, boys,” Tony laughed, a protective hand over his chest as the other patted DUM-E’s support strut. He pushed Butterfinger’s claw away when it ventured too close. “Yeah, Daddy’s home. Calm down, calm down. Scatter. Get, you vultures, get.”

They rolled back obediently as Tony approached his computers. The lights came up as he did.

“How’s it been down here, Jarv?” He tapped in his codes and holograms flickered to life all around his workspace, decorating the empty air with pictures and text. His fingers danced across them all.

_“Quiet. Standby doesn’t suit them.”_

“Lazy bots.” He smirked, waving them along. “Go on, get the tools, I wanna get under a car.”

_“Sir, I wouldn’t suggest-”_

“I built my first suit with a car battery attached to my chest. At a _forge_ . In a _cave_. I think I know my limits.”

_“That’s exactly the problem.”_

Tony shrugged and expanded a blueprint file in front of him, poking through old notes and logs. It was Howard’s abysmal failure of the 1943 Stark Expo: the flying car. Now it was Tony’s new project, unearthed from the old storage facility in upstate New York.

Before he could lose himself in another doomed endeavor, DUM-E rolled up to his side. Tony ignored him until the robot started aggressively jabbing him in the arm with something dull and pointed.

“Cool it, tin can, or I’ll-” DUM-E rolled back and rotated his lense like a chastised puppy, holding a small package in his claw. “What’s that?”

Tony took it with passive interest.

_“A gift from Mr. Keener, Sir.”_

“The brat?”

It was a small rectangle wrapped in obnoxious red-and-yellow Iron Man paper, featuring a caricature of the helmet printed in bold lines and repeated in blocked columns. There was a note scrawled across the front of it.

_‘TO: Tin Head, FROM: Hot Rod’_

Tony snorted. Harley’s hot rod was somewhere in a government impound with an accordioned engine and the kid had probably seen it all unfold on the news. Of course he’d come hunting for the replacement he was owed. Little vulture.

Tony tore open the wrapping as he thought about different cars, tossing the trash on the ground for DUM-E to inspect and roll over. He stared blankly at the result.

“What is this?”

 _“A game.”_ JARVIS supplied.

“Yes, Captain Obvious. But why?”

_“You have the corresponding console, Sir. Perhaps you should try it.”_

Tony turned the case over in his hands, questioning it. Of all the gifts he had ever received (and he’d thrown away almost as many as he’d gotten) this was the strangest.

“Whatever.”

He stood up, abandoning his projects to dust off the console beneath his television. He inserted the disc and JARVIS loaded all the appropriate applications as Tony settled in. His name lit up the side of the console.

The instant the home screen popped up, a message dinged in his inbox. Tony raised a brow and opened it to little anticipation.

_STARKINATOR: ‘Sup, old man?_

“You gave him my account name?” he asked, appalled. “And he named himself ‘Starkinator’?”

_“‘If you wished for discretion perhaps you should’ve chosen a name other than ‘Iron Man.’ Mr. Keener expressed concern about your surgery and whether you would ever bother to contact him again.”_

“You told him about the surgery?”

_“He found the information himself. He’s very resourceful.”_

Tony grumbled as he typed out his response. DUM-E placed a drink on the coffee table, which looked suspiciously non-alcoholic.

_IRON-MAN: That name is trademarked, kid._

_STARKINATOR: Sue me._

_IRON-MAN: Isn’t it past your bedtime?_

_STARKINATOR: Isn’t it past urs, old man?_

_IRON-MAN: You’re on._

So instead of finding Tony elbows deep in grime and oil, crawling underneath a failed project from the nineteen-forties, Loki found him spread across the couch. Tony was lying on his side, tinkering inside of DUM-E while Harley occupied the upper-right corner of his television screen, streaming his gameplay on the rest. Tony had lost interest after losing too many times, but he wasn’t about to reject company that wasn’t gushing over his surgery. Harley seemed more interested in Tony’s strategical advice than his help.

“That asshole and his snot-nosed friends are about to ambush you. You’d die in the real world, y’know.” Tony was saying, waving a screwdriver at the television with his face stuck in DUM-E’s motors. “And your so-called teammates are the worst.”

_“We can’t all have Captain America on our side. And you were the one who kept dyin’, so don’t go talkin’ big.”_

“Can it, Hot Rod, or I’ll-”

“You’ll do what?” Loki asked, leaning over the back of the couch. His fingers brushed against Tony’s ribcage and gave him a start.

“Oh, look who shows up now.” He batted Loki’s hand away with his tool.

 _“Hey, Loki.”_ Harley said, surprisingly nonchalant. Maybe he was just distracted.

“Hello, boy.” Loki brushed away DUM-E’s wandering claw, looking in on Tony’s work with mild curiosity. “You couldn’t simply rest, could you?”

“This is me. Resting. Do you see a suit anywhere?”

“No.”

“Then shove it and hand me that ratchet, will you, I can’t bend like that yet.”

Loki grunted and flicked his wrist, magicking the tool to rise from the coffee table and find Tony’s hand.

“It’s storming outside,” he mentioned, coming around the couch to sit. Tony moved his legs for him and then promptly deposited them in his lap. “We may be due for a visitor.”

“Is he big, blond, and hammer-crazed?”

“Likely.”

 _“Thor?”_ Harley asked, then cursed at his game. _“I wanna meet him.”_

“Doesn’t everybody.” Loki commented blandly.

Tony rolled his eyes, leaning back and patting DUM-E’s side.

“Go on, get the others to stitch you up. Maybe now you’ll stop running into walls.”

DUM-E chirped loudly and swung his arm around in excitement, nearly swiping Loki across the face in the process. He managed to duck down in time to save himself and the bot rolled away, blissfully unaware. Harley was laughing.

“You’re lucky I don’t turn him into scrap metal.”

“You might with a glare like that. Think non-murdery thoughts, please, don’t hurt my bots.” Tony propped his head up on the armrest and smiled at him. “He’s done worse to me and I still haven’t shut him off.”

“Whyever not?”

“Imagine him with a blond wig. He’s my Thor.”

Loki shook his head at the image.

“I do think my oaf of a brother has more intelligence than that… _thing_. And I have attempted to kill my brother. Multiple times.”

“Don’t call my babies things. They’re sensitive.” Tony laughed, scratching his beard as he glanced towards the television. He needed to shave. “Hey- on your right, Motorhead, you’re about to get blasted.”

_“I don’t see you trying to help.”_

“I’m busy.”

_“Busy flirting with your boyfriend.”_

Tony slowly eased himself up into a seated position. Loki adjusted himself now that his lap was free of invading limbs and leaned against the armrest, folding one leg up onto the couch.

“Flirting? Oh, you wanna see flirting?”

Tony moved as quickly as he could - which wasn’t very quick at all - but Loki was already anticipating his play. He caught him by the hips and shifted to face him fully, smirking softly.

“Your excuse for flirting is a bore, Stark,” he challenged, and Tony smiled.

“Sure, whatever.”

Loki’s lips parted to say something more, but Tony caught them in his own before a sound slipped out. It had been months and maybe they both didn’t know where they stood, but they couldn’t deny the pleasure of this.

_“Ah, gross, guys. Jeez.”_

Harley’s stream cut out and Tony laughed against Loki’s mouth. He stole away from the contact after a dizzying moment, breath hot down Tony’s neck as his mouth explored other reaches of his body. But he pulled away in good time, once his affections had found the line of his bandages.

“You’re hardly in any state,” he murmured, pressing his nose against Tony’s stubble.

“I don’t care.”

“Then I must. You need sleep.”

“Says who?” Tony challenged.

“Says you.”

There was a sudden pull in the air and dizziness disoriented him. The lights flickered like he’d blinked and then they were in the dark together, resting on what Tony knew wa his bed. He groaned.

“I say workshop. Not bed.”

“The lines under your eyes say rest,” Loki murmured. Tony felt him moving around in the dark, righting pillows beneath his head and pulling up blankets. “You strain under the weight of this, Stark. Allow yourself time to heal.”

“I can’t stay in here all the time.”

“Why do you think I left, earlier? To watch the stars?” Once Loki settled, it sounded like he was facing away from him.

Tony sighed, feeling the dull ache of his chest rising and falling. “Oh.”

“Oh, indeed. Now sleep, lest I enspell you to do so.”

“Magic is cheating.” Tony complained, but his heart wasn’t in it. He carefully rolled on his side, wrapping his arms around him from behind. Loki leaned back into the touch.

“Cheating and tricks. I’ve been told I’m quite adept in both.”

“Mm-hm. Whatever.” He tried to stifle a yawn in Loki’s back. If he noticed, he was polite enough not to show it. “Goodnight, Little Spoon.”

“...What did you call me?”

Tony decided it was best to pretend to fall asleep then.


	15. Chapter 15

“If you kick me one more time…” Loki let his threat trail off into the distance. Tony laughed.

“I wouldn’t kick you if you didn’t keep screwing up.”

He was sitting on a stool next to his father’s hovercar, looking at Loki’s legs from where they stuck out from underneath. How would always be proud of himself for talking a God under the wheel of a half-century old car. 

“Why I’m under this infernal thing in the first place is-”

“-because Pepper let me into the workshop, but she won’t let me do anything fun. And if you’re not under it, I will be. So just work your magic, Princess, and put your money where your mouth is.”

There was unintelligent grumbling in response. Tony smiled to himself and kicked his leg up on the hood, making minor adjustments to the Iron Man boots he had taken up instead. One of the support straps kept tightening inexplicably.

“Go ahead and say Asgardian children are smarter than me again. See what happens.” he challenged. 

His boots sparked green as the strap tightened against his adjustments. Tony resisted the urge to kick him again.

_ “As entertaining as this is, Sir, you have someone here to see you.”  _ JARVIS announced. Loki ignored him and there was a bright flash of light from underneath the car.

“Magic is cheating!” Tony insisted, but he pulled his leg down and hopped off the stool. “Is it the pizza guy?”

He turned towards the door and saw Thor standing on the other side of the glass, looking in curiously at the workshop. He waved and the door clicked open.

“Biggest pizza guy I’ve ever seen. Wondered when you’d come around.”

“T’was only a matter of… By Odin’s beard!” Thor laughed, folding his arms as he caught sight of the car. “Is that my brother?”

Loki’s head hit the top of the wheel and he cursed loudly over Tony’s laughter. 

“Long story. Well, not really, but...” He swayed as he felt Thor’s arm come over his shoulders, pulling him into his side. “Woah. Easy big guy, got a hole in my chest.”

Thor chuckled and let him go, looking down at his brother as Loki rolled out from under the wheels. He had a hand on his forehead.

“However did you find yourself under there?”

“I don’t believe that’s any of your concern.” Loki sat up and took Thor’s arm when he offered it, easily pulled up to his feet. “You’re late.”

Thor shrugged, smiling in his charming way. “We’re hardly known for our punctuality.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“No, you just like to disappear for months at a time,” Tony commented dryly. “What’re we late for, again?”

“A conversation.” Thor began, patting him on the back twice. “Come. Let’s sit.”

Loki nodded towards the couches and they went to sit together. Tony grabbed his medication as he passed by the kitchenette, popping bottles open as he sat down.

“Let me guess - the stones?” Tony asked around a mouthful of pills. “What about your bromance, Thor? Shouldn’t Cap’ and crew be here?”

He chuckled. “I’ve not yet had time to talk to the Avengers about the stones. Not in depth. Steve need not know the details for now. The fewer who do, the better.”

“They know they’re around. Natasha does, anyway. Which means Barton does, which means Bruce might, which means Steve is probably in the dark.” 

“Dysfunctionality at its finest,” Loki commented. “But the truth is this: the stones and gauntlet have been together far too long already. This cannot continue.”

“Sure. What’s the plan?” He twisted around the back of the couch. “DUM-E! Fetch.”

“They are the keepers?” Thor asked, skeptical. Loki rolled his eyes and lazily waved his hand in the air, summoning the Infinity Gauntlet to him. 

“No, he just knows where one is.” Tony shrugged. DUM-E was rifling around in the fridge with questionable intent. 

“They should always be kept apart… but never have they been closer together,” Loki continued, thoughtful as he removed the gauntlet from his arm. “Thanos had one, entrusted to the Other, which was in turn trusted to me. With the hopes I would bring him another. Instead he lost them both.”

“And we intend to keep it that way.” Thor nodded. “So apart they must be.”

“Asgard’s vault?” Tony shook his head. “If it’s as secure as those dungeons, the stones are safer in my sock drawer.”

“There have been three known breaches of Asgard’s palace in all of history. Two of which were perpetrated by me, with another in secret.” Loki pointed out. “Worry not. Few could replicate it.”

“I will take the gauntlet back home.” Thor said. “By my brother’s account, Thanos is a formidable foe. If he comes-”

“ _ When  _ he comes.” Loki corrected.

“-they will not be readily together.”

“Don’t we need something to fend him off?” Tony pointed. “I mean, the Avengers, sure, and me, but the first time… we were lucky.”

“You were.” Loki agreed quietly.

“Loki knows best,” Thor admitted. “And now he stands with us. The stones will be close enough for a time of need, but not so close that they might-”

“So I just pick up the phone and call you if I need the gauntlet?” Tony tried not to be sarcastic. “Thor-”

“The mind stone will stay with you, Tony,” Loki interjected. “The other with me.”

“What am I gonna do with that?” DUM-E came rolling up with tupperware in his claw. The stone in question sat innocently within, rattling around in plastic.

“Nothing, which is exactly the point.” Loki took the tupperware from the bot before Tony could. Thor was staring at it incredulously, glancing back over to the fridge as DUM-E whirred away.

“I’ve proven that I quite fancy the ability to control other people’s minds,” Loki continued. “There is every reason for you to harness the possibilities of an endless energy source.”

“Already got one - the arc reactor.” he pointed out. “What? Don’t trust me?”

“The less they’re used, the harder they’ll be to find.”

“And the Aether is realms away.” Thor added. 

Tony sighed and leaned back into the couch. Loki popped open the container and took the stone in hand, rolling it into his palm. By the time it settled the other stone had appeared, both of them gleaming off a flash of Loki’s magic.

“All right. So that’s three, out of what? Six? For sure.”

“Aye.”

_ “If I may,”  _ JARVIS interrupted.  _ “Mister Stark has been conducting energy readings of the planet…” _

“Thank Veronica,” he shrugged. “Where you need a Hulk-buster, you’ll probably need a Hulk-finder.”

“ _...and the results revealed energy signatures that are consistent with the data I’ve collected from the stones. _ ”

“Yes,” Loki sighed. “All the more reason to move others away.”

“More stones?” Thor asked.

_ “Overall, the readings are inconclusive. They could result from other stones or items that have been in contact with them.”  _

“I see.”

“Then it is decided?” Loki asked. 

“I guess.” Tony took the mind stone from his hand, rolling it between his fingers. Maybe he’d need to find somewhere safer to store it.

Thor nodded, placing the Infinity Gauntlet on the coffee table and placing Mjolnir on top of it as a safeguard. It was quiet. Too quiet.

“Well, c’mon. Enough of this.” Tony decided, standing up. “Loki told me an Asgardian brat could fix my car before I could, but he still can’t get it up.” Thor snorted. “How ‘bout you take a crack at it, Thundercat?”

He looked up, amused. “Do I hear a challenge?”

“Just don’t hit it too hard with your hammer.”

And that was how Tony got two different Gods to work on his car in the same day. 

It never took flight.

* * *

Six months later, Loki was gone again. Tony was alone in the workshop, spit-shining the finished Mark XLVII before he took it out for a spin.

“Tell me what ya got, Jarv,” he requested, tossing a dirty rag over his shoulder as he admired his work.

_ “I’ve compiled all the requested research and taken the liberty of writing a disclaimer that you’ll ignore completely. I still recommend asking Loki directly for accurate information.” _

“Blah, blah, blah.” Tony stepped back, snapping his fingers. The suit opened up like a fly trap, ready for testing.

_ “As you say...”  _ Tony entered the suit and let it close around him.  _ “According to myth, Loki has six children. Hel, Jormungandr, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Vali, and Narfi - also known as Nari. Loading interface, checking diagnostics, cleaning system data-” _

“Don’t need to hear the spiel, bud. Talk to me.”

Tony tested the repulsors and jets, flexing the suit while JARVIS continued with his findings.

_ “You substantiate the existence of Hela, presumably Hel, so I assume her brothers are also legitimate. They are a wolf and a serpent.” _

“Color me surprised. How’s the arc reactor?”

_ “Functioning at one hundred percent. Congratulations.”  _

“Would you look at that? Guess the suit doesn’t need me anymore.”

_ “In theory. Shall I start autonomous prototypes?” _

“Don’t talk dirty to me.” 

_ “Request logged for another time.” _

“All right, so we’ve got a creepy skeleton lady, a wolf, and a serpent. Give me backstory and get me my jewelry.”

An arm lowered down from the ceiling, holding a glittering infinity stone. Tony watched as it lowered and felt the arc reactor bloom to accept it. It clicked into place and the chestplate vibrated softly before things settled and the arm retracted back up to the ceiling.

_ “Arc reactor stable,”  _ JARVIS reported,  _ “According to surviving translations, Loki’s children were outcast from Asgard due to predictions regarding Ragnarok.” _

“Sweet. Prophecies and an apocalypse story. Book my flight yet?”

_ “Routing flight path to New York. I have concerns about battery life.” _

“See if you can route energy out of the arc reactor.”

_ “You’ve only just been cleared-” _

“Do it, JARVIS. In the name of science.”

_ “You listen to no one, including Gods.” _

“That’s a great tagline. Add it to the biography list.” Tony replied flippantly. “All right. Ready?”

_ “Flight systems online.” _

“Kick it, Jay.”

They went soaring out the garage and up into the Malibu skies, headed East towards the coast. JARVIS controlled most of the flight with Tony along for the ride, letting him listen to his Norse Mythology crash course. By the time they landed his head was spinning.

“So you’re telling me he’s got a horse for a kid?” Tony asked, pulling off his helmet. Avenger’s Tower was ready to greet him. “Okay, he’s weird, but not that weird.”

_ “As I said, this is all compiled from unreliable sources, unless you’ve learned to forgive Wikipedia without my knowledge.”  _ JARVIS continued over the speakers.  _ “Perhaps you should ask him.” _

“I will  _ never  _ forgive Wikipedia.”

“Ask who what?” asked Bruce Banner. He was standing in the entryway to the Tower with one hand shoved in his pocket and another raised up in greeting. Tony smiled.

“Hey, you. Looking pleasantly not-green today.”

“As always.” He adjusted his glasses as Tony came up and joined him, ducking out of the hanger and into the living areas. He patted him on the back.

“How’s it been?”

“Quiet, up until now. Dr. Cho’s been-”

“Helen Cho? The geneticist? She’s brilliant.”

“-yes, she’s been working on a smaller regeneration cradle for us. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“First I’m hearing of it,” Tony lied. “Send flowers to Pepper.”

“Mh-hm, sure. Did Steve call you in for the meeting?”

Tony blinked wildly. It wasn’t very convincing. “There’s a meeting? I had no idea.”

Bruce rolled his eyes as they rounded their way around the couches and up the stairs to the workshop. Its tinted windows faded as JARVIS began to resume control of the building.

“Nice, Tony,” he drawled. “You could just rejoin the team, y’know.”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Still, offer’s there.”

Tony threw his arm around Bruce’s shoulders as the lights came on around the tables. The lining of the computer screens bled gold as the resident A.I. went into standby to make way for JARVIS.

“All right, give me the run-down,” Tony whispered conspiratorially, leaning over a holographic display of the Avenger’s logo. “I’ve got something cool for you in return.”

“You spill first,” Bruce dared, smiling to himself.

Tony smiled, popping the mind stone out of the arc reactor.

“Something I like to call the Ultron protocol…”

* * *

Steve’s meeting with the Avengers was about a rumor coming out of Eastern Europe. The footnotes version was that Baron von Strucker was allegedly (and illegally) experimenting on humans out of a not-so-secret Hydra stronghold. Tony took his time to point out that he could substantiate these rumors with the energy readings that JARVIS had been picking up in the area, which suggested infinity stone activity. Why he had held onto the information instead of sharing it immediately was a point of contention until Thor stepped into the fray.

“This must be where Loki recovered the scepter.” he said, “Let us just be grateful they no longer have it.”

“It’s a Hydra base, anyway,” Clint added. “We’re going regardless.”

So they went. In short: they came, they saw, and they conquered. 

It was all going fine until Tony found himself deep in a dungeon staring at pieces of his robots, carcasses of Leviathans, and the ghosts of a different time. 

“What is this?” he asked the air, gesturing to the table he stood in front of. “An alter? A tech alter? Talk to me, buddy.”

_ “It appears to be a scanning apparatus.” _ JARVIS answered, watching through the security cameras and echoing from the intercom.  _ “A data collection point. I’ll attempt access.” _

“The perfect size for an alien scepter.”

_ “It appears so.” _

“Well, Jarv’-”

And then the world stopped. There was a whisper behind him, distant like a breeze or a draft, and warmth crawled behind his eyes. It bloomed like a flower, magic spreading faster than he could comprehend.

“Loki?”

He blinked. The Leviathans above him shook in their chains and shed their prisons. The ceiling turned to a starscape; the universe opened up around him like a nightmare. He was standing on that rock where they had found Thor. The empty throne.

The steps leading up to it were littered with bodies. Mostly people he didn’t know; Asgardians, donned in gleaming armour and speared with brighter weapons. Among them were the people he knew: the team, his family, his Pepper. All dead. Bleeding all the same.

In a cold panic, Tony threw himself to the stairs. To Pepper’s side, desperately checking for vitals. But her stare was blank and wide to the open sky. Leviathans roared and he saw that his hands were infected, blue chasing up his skin and lining it with silver scars. 

A hand reached out to him and grasped tight around his forearm. He saw Steve cough blood, holding tight - tight enough to break bones. 

“Steve-”

“You could’ve saved us.”

“No.” He wrenched away from Pepper to turn to the Captain, holding his face and hoping it wouldn’t frost him. “Cap’, don’t.”

There was a yell from beyond them. Thor’s call for battle. He could see the silhouette of a fight behind the throne, barely visible from his angle. But he knew how those horns arched better than he knew the sound of Steve’s voice. He looked down to him again, feeling an ache in his chest that was pure dread, and blinked away gathering tears.

In an instant, Steve was gone. Instead he saw Frigga staring up at him, her grip stronger around his arm and her nails digging deep into his blue skin. She was golden and beautiful, splattered with blood that shined against the stars. He touched her cheek and his fingertips iced against her skin.

“You could’ve done more.” she whispered. “You’re not my son.”

She died. The Leviathans roared again and Tony stood in shock, staring blankly out at his legacy: aliens attacking the Earth, destroying everything he wanted to protect. That big, blue world that was so terribly vulnerable.

Between himself and that portal that opened up to swallow everything he loved, he watched Loki run his spear through his brother. Thor fell. Lighting struck around him - from him - and encased them both. Loki screamed.

“What is this?”

The was a cold breath on his neck, crawling down his spine, and the vision faded. The ice melted from his fingertips. There was a haze of green around everything he saw and he turned to see Loki staring at him in the darkness.

“What’ve you done?” this echo of Loki asked. Tony was at a loss. He blinked.

The world returned to normal.

But not really.

The Enhanced had revealed themselves, but they managed to get away. When the Avengers stumbled back home, no richer in information than they had been before, Tony saw Loki standing at the precipice of the hanger. He was silent as he flew the quinjet over him and landed with care, opening the hatch and letting the others leave before he pushed his chair back from the controls. But before he could stand there were hands on his shoulders that offered a cold comfort. 

“What happened?” Loki asked. Tony felt something inside of his chest start to crumble.

All he could do was stand and lean into Loki’s arms.

* * *

Hawkeye announced his retirement from the team that night. Tony threw a party to pretend that nothing was wrong.

Everyone was invited. Steve brought old war buddies, Rhodey popped in for a visit, and even a few of SHIELD’s mightiest made their appearance. Thor brought some knock-you-on-your-ass Asgardian booze that didn’t even make Steve blink. Coulson tried it and had to be sent home in a cab by Hill and Natasha. Bruce came out of his antisocial shell for half a second and Loki ghosted around the edges of the party (pointedly avoiding Colonel Rhodes, who had promised payback in no easy terms).

“Whatever, man, it’s a trick!” Clint announced, twirling drumsticks between his fingers.

They all lounged in a ring of couches and arm chairs, their guests gone.

“I don’t know about that.” Tony said, sitting on the armrest of the couch Loki had chosen.

“If you can lift it, it’s gotta be a trick. Worthy my ass.”

“Put your money where your mouth is, Barton.”

“‘Fraid I’m not sitting on a pile of Benjamins, Stark.”

“I’ll give you a loan.”

Loki seemed amused, draping his arm over the leg that occupied his arm rest. His fingers worried at the knee, but he said nothing as he drank out of Thor’s flask.

“Well, please, be my guest.” Thor challenged, gesturing towards Mjolnir. It sat on the center coffee table, as unassuming as it had ever been.

“C’mon.” Tony taunted. 

Clint rolled his eyes and rose to the challenge, but Tony kept on with his prodding.

“Now, Clint, we know you’ve had a tough week. We won’t hold it against you if you can’t get it up.”

There was sniggering all around. Natasha sighed and adjusted on the couch she shared with Loki, bringing her feet up to rest on his lap. He glanced to them briefly before pushing her heels back to the floor.

Clint gave Mjolnir his best shot, but the hammer didn’t budge. Thor smiled in a polite way that really meant ‘you dumbass.’

“Smell the silent judgement?” Tony teased.

“Please, Stark, by all means!” he offered, gesturing to the challenge. “Show us the way, oh mighty one.”

“Oh, I’ll show you the way all right. Right off the balcony.” Tony stood up, unbuttoning his blazer. Loki’s hand slid off his leg.

“Uh-oh.” Rhodey laughed. 

“Mm-hm. Never one to shrink from an honest challenge.” He rounded the table to address the hammer, shrugging towards Thor. “Let’s see how much she likes me. It’s all physics, right?”

“Physics.” Bruce commented dryly.

“Yeah, physics. Look, if I lift this again, I rule Asgard?”

“Yes, of course,” Thor obliged.

“Good. When I do, I’m knocking your Dad’s shiny ass off that shiny throne.”

Loki snorted into his drink and Thor shook his head, chuckling as Tony tried his luck. He promised himself he wouldn’t think of Amora as he took Mjolnir and pulled like he thought it would give for him again.

It didn’t.

Loki walked to the windows, away from the party, and Tony shook his head.

“All right, all right.” He waved away the Avenger’s chuckling, then pointed to Rhodey. “You. You’re on my team. Rep’ Team Iron Man, I’ll be right back.”

He clapped him on the shoulder as he passed by, stepping away from the games to join Loki. He was watching the city below as he swirled the flask, contemplative.

“Quite the performance,” he whispered when Tony came up on his side.

“It’s not like I didn’t tell them.”

“But you didn’t. Not fully.” Loki passed his flask and Tony took a swig, ignoring the bitter taste. He only coughed once. “That was not the power of a Midgardian mystic that overtook you.”

“I know what it was. If I had been wearing the suit-”

“You weren’t.”

“-but if I had been? Wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“Yet it was.”

“You could’ve told us, y’know.” Tony snapped. “About them. Before the experiments were done.”

“Perhaps,” Loki retorted. “I could’ve told you many things. But we were rather distracted with other matters, weren’t we?”

Tony shook his head, crossing his arms. Loki sighed.

“Listen. Those… enhanced persons,” Loki said, struggling with the terminology. “The stones are akin to a drug. It gives them terrible power with no guidance. They’re formidable-”

“I know. I know, but-”

“She was not just showing you your nightmares, Tony. She was showing you mine.”

Tony’s mouth opened but nothing came from it. Loki turned fractionally to face him, cornering them both into a triangle with the glass. 

“The boy’s speed can be overcome. The girl is powerful, reckless and untrained, but fallible. ‘Tis you she hates. Her contempt for the Avengers is miniscule in comparison.”

“Wait - you were in my head? Literally? That wasn’t her?”

“An echo, yes. Left behind to protect you.”

“Loki!” he whispered, sharp. “You can’t just-”

“Did it not work? Nevermind it - if you leave now, her focus will be scattered. The good Captain may be able to talk sense into them both, considering their shared circumstance. Or go down another route in neutralizing them.”

Tony paused. “...What do you mean, if I leave?”

Loki nodded. “If you leave. With me. Tonight.”

“Loki, we’ve talked about this.”

“Aye. Midgard needs you. But look.” He gestured out to the Avengers, who circled in kind laughter as Bruce tried to wrench Mjolnir from the table. “Midgard has something. If they cannot protect it...” Loki touched his cheek, looking back to him, “...they will avenge it. As you said.”

Tony smiled weakly. 

“I’d rather it not get to that point, y’know.”

“I know.”

He sighed and pulled away, looking back out towards the city.

“Y’know, the Avengers aren’t permanent. They all… we all want to go home someday. Hang up the hat and let the world take care of itself.” 

“But could you? Truly?”

“I hope so. If I could make something that could stand in for us? Something to protect the world when we couldn’t?” 

“And if you did?” he wondered. “Would you turn your back? Join me?”

“Maybe.”

“And this vision of yours, would he be the sentry you leave behind?”

“Look at you, talkin’ dirty about space travel,” Tony laughed. “I guess I might.”

“Then do it.” Loki said. “Create your puppet so we might finally address the greater terrors of this universe.”

“So dramatic.” He pressed Loki’s flask back into his chest. “Get over there and go pull on Mjolnir or something. You’re bringin’ me down.”

“I don’t need repeated rejections from the damned thing, thank you.”

Tony shook his head and laughed to himself, putting a hand on Loki’s shoulder. He stared down at the city, watching the lights shine and glitter against the night. There was silence shared between them for a long moment.

“How could you ever want to destroy that?” he wondered aloud. Loki watched with him.

“Oh, it was never about destroying.” He took a drink and hooked his arm around Tony’s waist. “It was about ruling.”

“No throne here.” Tony said, echoing himself from a conversation that seemed lifetimes ago.

“I don’t need it anymore.”

Loki pulled him close and rested his forehead against his in peace. 

“I need to go,” he admitted quietly.

“I know.”

Silence lasted a brief moment before impulse won out over propriety. Loki drew him in for a kiss that would likely silence anyone in the room who was paying them any mind. It was the same as it always was: both of them kissing like they were hidden away in a dark corner, unsure of whether or not they would see each other again. There was muttering from the other side of the room.

Tony just stuck his hand out in the open air in response, waiting as he ignored his friends. There was the sound of something soaring through the air - Steve yelped in surprised as an Iron Man gauntlet careened passed his head on its way to Tony. It encased his arm and its brothers followed, attaching and locking into place.

“What are you doing?” Loki asked, pulling away as pieces of the suit came dangerously close to hitting him on their way to Tony.

“Can’t imagine good ‘ol gatekeeper’s going to give you a free ride.” He stepped back as the suit attached to his chest, expanding and crawling around his torso and up and over his shoulders. “Thought you might want one.”

Loki’s eyes flashed in minor alarm. The window above them opened with a crack of Tony’s smile, soon hidden behind the face of Iron Man.

“Don’t you  _ dare _ \- Stark, by the nine,  _ put me down! _ ”

But Tony was laughing too hard to care. They were already shooting through the sky, Loki in his embrace, soaring miles above the city. A portal opened by a stone’s whim and closed behind them, hopefully used for the very last time.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your support! Let me know what you think in the comments below.


End file.
